The program that will be broadcast on the largest network in Russia will follow the contestants, who will undergo cosmonaut training
A TV program that will be broadcast this December in Russia promises the winner an out-of-this-world prize: a launch into space.
The program, which will be broadcast on the largest network in Russia, ORT, will follow competitors who volunteer to go through cosmonaut training, and the winner will win the real thing: a launch into space and a one-week stay on the International Space Station. The first launch is planned for fall 2003.
A spokesman for the Russian Space Agency confirmed the news. He said that the number of competitors will be limited to 20 and all of them will undergo extensive tests to make sure they can meet the task.
The Russian space agency has already sent two tourists into space - millionaires from the USA and South Africa, who paid about 20 million dollars each. Rock star Lance Bass also wanted to fly into space, but the idea was dropped about a month ago, after it became clear that Bass was unable to raise the necessary amount.
The amusement is the latest in a chain of attempts by the Russian space program, which has been in financial difficulties since the collapse of the Soviet Union, to finance itself. The Russian agency was the first in the world to send paying tourists to the International Space Station.
The first channel reported that according to the agreement signed on Tuesday, anyone can propose their candidacy for the program. 16 of the candidates will be sent to train at the Cosmonaut Center near Moscow. The CEO of Channel One, Constantine Ernst, said that "the best of the candidates will stay for a week in the Russian part of the international station and that more series are planned during the coming years."
TV viewers will be able to see the spacecraft launch live. A spokesman for the Russian Space Agency stated that "the launch is scheduled for October 2003. The selection of candidates will take about six months and thus there will be time to organize all the details properly." The lucky winner will join the two space agency crew members aboard a Soyuz rocket.
