The fifth space tourists fly into orbit

Russia's Soyuz spacecraft left the launch pad last night in Kazakhstan to bring American Simonyi billionaire and two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Beyond the smoke column and plunging into the sky through the deserted steppe, the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft took off at 23:30 (local time) and 9 minutes later went into orbit.

According to the image transmitted directly from the ship and reported to the Control Center on the ground, three passengers said they were normal and waved.

The trip of two Russian astronauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov - the 15th ISS crew and American tourist Charles Simonyi will take two days. The ship will land at the international space station on 23:12 pm on April 9 in Russian time.

Spacecraft from launch pad in Kazakhstan (Photo: VNN)

American billionaire, Hungarian-born Simonyi will spend 12 days in orbit, then return to earth with the ISS's 14th crew, Mikhail Tyurin and Michael Lopez-Alegria. This trip cost Mr. Simonyi 25 million USD.

Born in 1948 in Budapest, Charles Simonyi left his hometown of Hungary at the age of 17. He came to the United States in 1968 and became one of the key software developers of Microsoft Word and Excel. Currently, Simonyi is the co-founder and leader of International Software Company in Bellevue, Washington.

From left to right: Charles Simonyi , Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin (Photo: Spaceflightnow)

In 2002, Forbes ranked Simonyi as the 4th richest person in the world with an estimated total of 989 million dollars.

During the trip, Simonyi will conduct a series of experiments such as measuring radiation levels and biological mechanisms in the laboratory. In addition, he will have a party with the ISS crew to celebrate the day of the Russian Astronaut on April 12. Yuri Gagarin was the first person to enter space on this day in 1961.

American billionaire, space traveler on spaceship (left) - (Photo: VNN)

Hoai Linh