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CNN Sunday Morning

Tito Lands Safely in Russia

Aired May 06, 2001 - 08:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, to NASA he was Dennis the Menace. But to the Russians, well, he was a sugar daddy. Now that Dennis Tito's $20 million trip to space is over, what's next for the 60-year-old American businessman?

As CNN's Steve Harrigan explains, well, the sky is the limit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE HARRIGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a textbook landing on the barren steppes of Kazakhstan, rescue workers race to a space ship and two cosmonauts are pulled from the tiny Soyuz capsule. Then the man the world was waiting for, 60-year-old space tourist Dennis Tito, who paid $20 million to the Russian space agency for his trip.

QUESTION: How was your flight?

DENNIS TITO, SPACE TOURIST: It was paradise.

HARRIGAN: After months of training and six days together on the international space station, the cosmonauts had high praise for their California colleague.

TALGAT MUSAEAEZ, COSMONAUT: Mr. Tito was great in the ISS because he was not young, but very strong, a very proud man.

HARRIGAN (on camera): Dennis Tito tried to put a controversy to rest when he said this is a great day for NASA, the space agency that originally opposed his trip.

(voice-over): Next on the agenda for Tito, a possible business venture to open up space for ordinary people who can pay for it.

Steve Harrigan, CNN, Northern Kazakhstan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, Dennis Tito may have been the first man to pay his way into space, unlikely he'll be the last. To find out how much space travel agencies have already collected from Tito wannabes, check out our Web site at cnn.com.

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