British singer Sarah Brightman heads to Russia this week to begin training to fly to the International Space Station, Russias ITAR-TASS news service reports. <\/p>\n
The 54-year-old soprano announced in 2012 that she intended to fly as a spaceflight participant to the station, a research laboratory that orbits about 260 miles above Earth. <\/p>\n
NEWS: Singer Sarah Brightman to Train for Orbital Spaceflight <\/p>\n
Her rocket ride aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket and 10-day stay on the orbital outpost is estimated to cost $52 million. Virginia-based Space Adventures is arranging the trip. <\/p>\n
Brightman will become the seventh paying tourist to visit the station. The last non-astronaut to make the trip was Cirque du Soleil founder and chief executive Guy Laliberte in September 2009. Microsoft co-founder Charles Simonyi has paid for two visits to the station. <\/p>\n
Brightman was scheduled to arrive in Russia on Wednesday and begin training in Star City on Thursday, TASS reports. <\/p>\n
NEWS: Singer Sarah Brightman Signs Up for Space Trip <\/p>\n
She is expected to launch into orbit on Sept 1 with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov and Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen. <\/p>\n
A Japanese businessman, Satoshi Takamatsu, 51, will train with Brightman and fly if she is unable to do so, TASS said. <\/p>\n
Brightman, who starred in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Phantom of the Opera, released her 11th solo album in 2013. She said she intends to sing in space. <\/p>\n
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Singer Sarah Brightman to Begin Training for Space Flight<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" British singer Sarah Brightman heads to Russia this week to begin training to fly to the International Space Station, Russias ITAR-TASS news service reports. Continue reading