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CNN Saturday Morning News

Tito Begins Trip to International Space Station

Aired April 28, 2001 - 09:01   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.
JASON CARROLL, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with what Dennis Tito calls the fulfillment of a life's dream. The U.S. millionaire was launched into space today with two Russian cosmonauts, and the three-man crew is in route to rendezvous with the international space station.

CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty has more on this morning's launch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Finally, the only thing holding back Dennis Tito was gravity. After 10 years of trying to realize his dream of flying into space, the giant Soyuz rocket lifted off, and the first space tourist waved goodbye to the world.

Tito paid $20 million for a seat on the flight to the international space station, and he could end up sleeping in that seat for his 10-day round trip. It doesn't faze him.

DENNIS TITO, SPACE TOURIST: There's a liner that has been molded specifically to your body, and, you know, I just hope I don't fall asleep on the way up, it's so comfortable.

DOUGHERTY: The 60-year-old head of an investment consulting company trained for nine months with Russian cosmonauts, including a wilderness survival course. The only thing he's not looking forward to, he says, is the food.

TITO: Probably mashed potatoes is probably the best thing that I'm going to have up there.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): But food was the least of Dennis Tito's problems. First the Russians sold him a ticket to the Mir space station, but then they ditched the Mir. Then they offered him one of their seats on the ISS, but NASA objected, claiming it's too early and too dangerous for an amateur in space.

(voice-over): Tito says he's not worried. His Russian trainers, he says, have prepared him well.

TITO: They have that wild West attitude, and I say that in a positive sense, that they're -- you know, they're free spirits. So they're a different culture than we are. But as far as their -- the safety aspects of their space program, they're very serious about, you know, not putting any of their cosmonauts at risk.

DOUGHERTY: Tito is bringing along a video camera to record his adventure and a CD player with music tapes, mostly opera. It should help make the space station feel a little more like home and give Dennis Tito a chance to prove what he believes, that space is for everyone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY: So Dennis Tito now has been in space for five and a half hours, and things, according to mission control, are going very well. Everybody's feeling fine. And, you know, Dennis Tito before, a few days before he left, told CNN that the seat in that Soyuz spacecraft was so comfortable, he was afraid that he might fall asleep.

But there is no indication that he's doing that. Presumably he is sitting in that comfortable seat and looking back at the earth, which is something that he dreamed of doing for 40 years -- Jason.

CARROLL: Jill, as you know, NASA is not happy about Tito's arrival. Any word from Moscow about NASA's reaction?

DOUGHERTY: Well, they eventually came to an understanding about that. I mean, they didn't want him to go. They still think that it's not a good idea and that he's not a professional. But they finally agreed that it was going to go forward. And certainly at this point, they want it to go smoothly.

So he'll be on the station. He has to go only into areas when he has an accompanying cosmonaut with him, at least in the U.S. section, Jason.

CARROLL: All right, Jill, we'll keep watching for that. Jill Dougherty, coming to us live from Moscow. Thanks very much for that.

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