Russia Confirms Plans to Send Sarah Brightman to Space

Russia's space agency Roscosmos said on Monday it has reached an agreement with US-based Space Adventures Ltd. company to proceed with the plans to put British singer Sarah Brightman on a space flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2015.

"The sides will discuss in the near future the implementation of this project, including Sarah Brightman's preparation for the flight and the program of her activities on board the orbital station," Roscosmos said in a statement.

Brightman, 52, UNESCO Artist for Peace ambassador and the world's best-selling soprano singer with 30 million CDs sold, announced her plans to become a space tourist in August 2012.

She has already visited Russia and passed a series of tough psychological and physical tests to be officially recognized by the Russian space authorities as "a cosmonaut in training."

A final decision on Brightman's journey to the ISS has not been made as it has to be coordinated between Roscosmos and NASA, fitting the demanding schedule of visiting flights to the orbital station.

In case she makes it to the ISS, the superstar of classical crossover would become the world's eighth space tourist. The first was US entrepreneur Dennis Tito in 2011, and the last, so far, is Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberte, who paid $40 million to spend 12 days at the station in 2009.

Source: RIA Novosti