[FPSPACE] Russian grocer magnate to be first Russia-based space tourist

[pjp]

>From Reuters

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070903/sc_nm/russia_space_tourist_dc

 

Russian grocery owner to be space tourist: report

 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A grocery tycoon and politician who planted a flag on the
North Pole's seabed last month will now go into orbit as the first Russian
space tourist, leading business daily Vedomosti said on Monday. 

Vladimir Gruzdev, aged 40, underwent medical tests in June and had been
formally approved for a flight on board a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft in September
2008, the newspaper quoted an unnamed source from the Russian space company
Energia as saying.

He was one of three submariners who on August 2 planted a rust-proof
titanium Russian flag at the North Pole, 4,300 meters (14,000 ft) under
water, in order to boost Russia's claim for a larger chunk of resource-rich
Arctic seabed.

The head of Russian space agency Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov, said last week
the next space tourist would be a Russian, but did not name him. He said the
man would be a "serious, respectable person, a businessman and politician."

Gruzdev's spokesman refused to comment and said he will not make any further
statements, though the tycoon has a record of politically tinged exploration
projects.

Gruzdev is a part owner of Seventh Continent, a leading Russian grocery
chain and a deputy in the State Duma for the United Russia party, which
holds the majority of seats in the lower chamber.

Of the five previous space tourists, who have paid up to $25 million to
travel to the International Space Station, four were U.S. citizens and one
was from South Africa.