MOSCOW British singer Sarah Brightman may be the next paying passenger to ride a Russian rocket to the International Space Station, sources familiar with the negotiations said Wednesday. <\/p>\n
If the trip happens, Brightman, 52, would make the journey in 2015, the Interfax news agency reported, citing an unidentified official in the Russian space industry. A source familiar with Brightman's side of the negotiations confirmed to NBC News that talks were under way, but stressed that they were at an early stage. <\/p>\n
Assuming the negotiations are successful, Brightman would be the first paying orbital space passenger since Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, who donned a red clown's nose for his 2009 trip to the space station. <\/p>\n
Russia has sent seven private passengers to the space station, with the reported price tags escalating from $20 million to more than $40 million. California investment manager Dennis Tito was the first to make the journey in 2001. <\/p>\n
Seats on the three-person Soyuz capsules have become scarce since NASA retired its space shuttles last year, leaving Russian rockets as the only craft capable of carrying crews to the station for now. <\/p>\n
Space news from NBCNews.com <\/p>\n
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: NASA's Curiosity rover has wiggled its wheels to warm up for its first honest-to-goodness drive, just hours from now. <\/p>\n
Brightman who rose to fame starring in the original London and New York casts of \"The Phantom of the Opera\" visited Russia about a month ago and received the approval of a medical commission to begin training at the Cosmonaut Training Center outside Moscow, the source added. <\/p>\n
She was married to composer Andrew Lloyd Webber in the 1980s and pursued a chart-topping solo career after their divorce, bringing classical music to a broader audience and selling millions of records along the way. Estimates of her net worth have ranged from $45 million to $52 million and beyond. <\/p>\n
Virginia-based Space Adventures has organized trips to the space station for deep-pocketed passengers in the past, but representatives of the company have not commented publicly on the prospects for future trips. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Next space tourist: Singer Sarah Brightman?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MOSCOW British singer Sarah Brightman may be the next paying passenger to ride a Russian rocket to the International Space Station, sources familiar with the negotiations said Wednesday. Continue reading