MOSCOW (AP) Sarah Brightman's voice, beloved by audiences and renowned for its three-octave range, rocketed to fame more than two decades ago as the heroine of \"The Phantom of the Opera.\" Now the world's biggest-selling soprano is heading to outer space. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Brightman told a news conference in Moscow that she has booked a trip to the International Space Station. Brightman, who had a hit in 1978 with \"I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper\" and has sold more than 30 million records, will become the first recording artist in space. <\/p>\n
The British singer said that after touring the world in 2013 for her new album, Dreamchaser, she will spend six months in Russia's Star City cosmonaut training center. <\/p>\n
\"I think of myself not just as a dreamer, but as a dream chaser,\" she said. <\/p>\n
Brightman, a UNESCO ambassador, said the trip would also serve as a way to promote the U.N. agency's message, by encouraging women's education in the sciences and environmental awareness. She hinted at the possibility of doing a promotional \"space concert.\" <\/p>\n
She wouldn't give a precise time for her mission, but Alexei Krasnov, the head of manned programs at the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said she would likely make it in the fall of 2015. <\/p>\n
Krasnov said the price tag for the flight was in \"tens of millions of dollars,\" but refused to name a precise figure. <\/p>\n
Brightman teamed up with the private company Space Adventures, which organizes trips for private space explorers. When questioned about the expense of the journey, Eric Anderson, co-founder and chairman of Space Adventures, wouldn't give a figure but joked that \"it's a round-trip flight.\" <\/p>\n
Previous flights have cost the adventurous travellers over $20 million each, according to several of the participants. <\/p>\n
The cost should be of little concern for Brightman, who has grossed millions of dollars from her tours and albums. Brightman, ex-wife of Broadway playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber, said in a 2008 interview with the Guardian that she had offered to return the money she won in their divorce settlement, worth 6 million pounds. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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New blastoff for Sarah Brightman: flight to space<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MOSCOW (AP) Sarah Brightman's voice, beloved by audiences and renowned for its three-octave range, rocketed to fame more than two decades ago as the heroine of \"The Phantom of the Opera.\" Now the world's biggest-selling soprano is heading to outer space. On Wednesday, Brightman told a news conference in Moscow that she has booked a trip to the International Space Station. Brightman, who had a hit in 1978 with \"I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper\" and has sold more than 30 million records, will become the first recording artist in space. Continue reading