International holidays - First Space Tourist Day

For a long time, flights on ships into near-Earth orbit were carried out by specially trained and physically fit people More than 60 years ago, special requirements were placed on cosmonauts: they had to have impeccable health, be qualified as military pilots, be under 30 years of age, and not taller than 170 cm The latter criterion was explained by the small size of Vostok-1, the ship that lifted Yu Gagarin Now the selection rules are not so strict Together with the pilots, scientists and engineers fly into Earth orbit and must be prepared to pass the GTO standards for the age group of 18-29 years A mandatory requirement for future cosmonauts is knowledge of the English language, which is the language spoken by ISS crew members Each mission participant must have a reserve of psychological strength: balanced, sociable people who are able to concentrate for a long time in extreme conditions are sent into orbit The first tourist to fly to the stars, Dennis Anthony Tito from the USA, met all these requirements and “bought” a ticket to zero gravity for $20 million Coming from a family of Italian immigrants, he realized his dream, which he had cherished since he was 17 years old She brought Tito after studying at New York University to NASA, where he was involved in launching interplanetary stations to Mars and Venus And although he failed to get into the astronaut corps, the enterprising young man did not give up his dream The American founded an investment company and earned a multimillion-dollar fortune On April 28, 2001, at the age of 60, on the Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft as part of the Russian crew Tito from the Baikonur Cosmodrome went into Earth orbit This date marks the annual celebration of Space Tourist Day The history of astronautics shows that First Space Tourist Day should be celebrated on January 28 On this day in 1986, the Challenger launched in Nevada with a crew that included educator Christa McAuliffe In fact, she could become the first tourist to fly into Earth orbit as part of the Teacher in Space program proposed by Ronald Reagan But at the 73rd second of the flight, the ship exploded, which led to the death of all 7 people on board The cause of the tragedy was a gas leak in the shuttle The second person to go into space on a commercial basis was journalist Toyohiro Akiyama The Japanese arrived at the Mir station as a researcher who carried out experiments and conducted television and radio broadcasts from orbit His flight was for promotional purposes and was paid for by Akiyama's employer, the Tokyo Broadcasting System Corporation Dennis Tito became the first tourist to go into space as a traveler Despite the fact that he had undergone rigorous training and successfully passed the exam in Star City, the flight did not go very smoothly The American was poorly accustomed to weightlessness, so he was always under the supervision of the ship’s captain, Musabaev, who received the nickname “Nanny Number One” During the flight, Tito managed to break his head by crashing into the ship's hatch, and entered the second part of the ISS, which was occupied by the Americans, without permission According to the astronauts, a compatriot broke their equipment and drove them to a nervous breakdown The millionaire and space pioneer was seen off on his flight to Baikonur by his ex-wife, sons, friends and a young lifelong friend with the long name Sunshine Dawn Elizabeth Abraham As soon as the ship entered orbit, the support group departed for the United States After landing on May 6, 2001, the Russian crew members, unlike Dennis Tito, were greeted on Earth by their families—wives and children But this unpleasant moment faded against the background of the extraordinary popularity of the tourist, who, upon returning to his homeland, was not allowed access by reporters and ordinary people After 2001, 6 more travelers visited space, one of whom, Charles Simonyi, managed to do it twice In 2021, actress Yu Peresild and director K Shipenko went into low-Earth orbit to film the film But the flight of Dennis Tito will forever remain in history, in honor of which Space Tourist Day was established