Space Tourist Admits To Jitters

The U.S. scientist slated to become the third non-astronaut to visit the international space station said Friday he was nervous ahead of the launch and defended his joining the expedition as a necessary step in the evolution of space flight.

"I will feel most relaxed and most happy when the rocket is taking off," said Gregory Olsen, of Princeton, N.J., whose trip reportedly costs $20 million. "This has been two years of very hard work. In 20 hours, I will feel very, very good."

Blastoff is scheduled for Saturday at 7:54 a.m. Moscow time (11:54 p.m. EDT Friday).

With final preparations under way for Expedition 12, the orbiting station's next crew — Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and U.S. astronaut William McArthur — joined with Olsen for last-minute medical checks and program reviews as engineers prepared to fuel the Russian-built Soyuz rocket.

The three, now under quarantine, visited with their families and participated in several Russian preflight traditions, including watching the legendary Soviet-era film "White Sun of the Desert."

At a news conference, Olsen, whose trip was brokered by Virginia-based Space Adventures Ltd., said he preferred the term "space flight participant" to "space tourist." Tokarev labeled Olsen as "scientific investigator of the international space station."

"'Tourist' doesn't do justice to all the work I've put in, or the work that the people at the Gagarin center (outside Moscow) put in preparing us," Olsen said.

However, he said, "I will not participate pretending that I'm an astronaut or cosmonaut. There is so much knowledge needed to operate this vehicle."

Asked about what else he was doing to get ready, Olsen responded: "All I have to do is to talk to my 4-year-old grandson, Justin ... That's all the mental preparation I need."

McArthur, a retired Army colonel who has flown three times aboard the space shuttle, including one to the Russian space station Mir, said he had no doubts about the Russian space craft.

"The record of the Soyuz indicates that it is a reliable vehicle. We have tremendous faith and confidence in the people who built and assembled our rocket," he said.

Olsen also rejected assertions that space tourism was leading to the commercialization of space, and he defended his participation as a necessary step in the evolution of space flight.

"Everyone flies (on planes) nowadays," he said. "The same will be true of space flight."

Olsen is the third non-astronaut to visit the station, preceded by American Dennis Tito four years ago and South African Mark Shuttleworth in 2002.

After blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the middle of Kazakhstan's barren steppes, the Soyuz TMA-7 capsule will rendezvous in two days with the station, about 250 miles above the Earth. Along with the station's current inhabitants, Russian Sergei Krikalev and American John Phillips, the three will help bring cargo onboard and perform experiments.

Alongside the nearly four dozen scientific experiments to be conducted during Expedition 12 will be at least one commercial shoot: a plug for Japanese noodles. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency is sending a high-definition camera to the station so that a cosmonaut can film a commercial for Nissin Food Products' Cup Noodle. The commercial is set to air in November.

Phillips and Krikalev, who have been on the station since April, are scheduled to return to Earth along with Olsen on Oct. 11, touching down in Kazakhstan.

By Mike Eckel