'N SYNC Singer's Shaky Space Dream

Pop singer Lance Bass will be allowed to continue to train for his planned mission into space while officials try to work out payment for the multi-million-dollar excursion, his representative in Russia said Friday.

Bass, of the boy band 'N SYNC, has been training since July at the Russian cosmonaut center Star City outside Moscow with the aim of being part of a Russian crew going to the international space station in October.

But the venture, which would be the third paid "space tourist" trip, has been endangered by Bass's failure to come up with the money needed for the trip, and there was speculation that the trip was on the verge of cancellation. The price tag is said to be about $20 million.

"A preliminary agreement has been reached so that he can train another week, and that all financial obligations would be fulfilled in this period," said Bass' representative in Moscow, Yuri Nikiforov.

The ITAR-Tass news agency meanwhile reported that the Russian Space Agency, Rosaviakosmos, had decided to include Bass among the crew for the space station. Rosaviakosmos officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bass, at 23, would become the youngest person to go into outer space.

David Krieff, a Los Angeles television producer who plans a series about Bass' trip and is gathering sponsors, this week blamed the payment problems on paperwork snags.

Krieff said he has lined up three sponsors so far who have committed between $5 million and $15 million each.

Bass would be the third fee-paying enthusiast to blast into orbit after U.S. millionaire Dennis Tito and South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. The paid voyages are a significant source of income for the financially struggling Russian space program.

Russia's decision to accept Bass as a candidate alarmed U.S. space officials, who have expressed worries the pop idol may be ill-prepared for the flight.