First Space Hiker Dennis Tito Arrives At Baikonur

The first space tourist, American businessman Dennis Tito, has arrived at Russia's cosmodrome Baikonur located in the territory of Kazakhstan. He has come together with the host crew of an expedition which will go to the International Space Station -- commander of the Soyuz TM-342 manned spaceship Talgat Musabayev and flight engineer Yuri Baturin. A crew of their backups has also arrived at the cosmodrome. The blast-off of the Soyuz TM-32 manned ship is scheduled on April 28, 11;37 Moscow time. During the time remaining till the launch, the host and standby crews will one more time model on local simulators moments of launch, flight, docking and return to the Earth. Dennis Tito will participate in all these training sessions. Since flu and quinsy epidemics have become wide-spread in Kazakhstan, contacts between the crews, the cosmodrome personnel and journalists will be limited.

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