Since 1998, the world community has been building the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit. For various reasons, the station will not be completed until the next decade, but 2001 witnessed a visit to it by an interested civilian from Earth, adding a new dimension to extreme tourism.

Here I feel compelled to add that the development of such tourism is a natural process, and there is no sense questioning the pleasure of vacationing tourists. But one thing is interesting: In the past two years scarcely a report has been issued by Russia or the United States that has not commented on the possibility of manned flights in the near future to the Moon and then Mars.

Mark you, however, that such programs, regardless of their source, are not strong on practical details. However, whereas the Americans began with general deliberations and now and again announced in the press possible deadlines for interplanetary expeditions that differ by as much as a few years, Russia launched its Moon program with plans for a round-the-moon journey for tourists.

Today Energia, the largest Russian space corporation, in the teeth of the Russian Space Agency's (Roskosmos) official disapproval, is actively marketing a $100 million trip around the Moon. And this despite the fact that Russia has only just begun negotiating with foreign investors on a project to build a spaceship capable of such a voyage.

But never mind the Moon. The ISS has proven to be exotic enough for a fifth tourist: an American of Hungarian origin, 58-year-old Charles Simonyi, one of the founders of the software giant Microsoft and a lover of classical music and painting. He will ride to the station on board Russia's most reliable workhorse rocket, the Soyuz, which all on its own, putting every ounce of strength into the effort, kept the station manned for more than a year in the aftermath of an American shuttle disaster.

I am no judge of the future tourist's professional training or the value of his scientific program "in the interests of several space agencies." But one thing is clear: The Russian-U.S. manned program, which just now pulled out of its critical nosedive with tremendous pain, and which is the only one in the world except for China's, badly needs experienced and practiced professionals rather than amateurs.

Now a few words about the technical aspects of the business, which make tourist flights aboard Soyuz craft super-extreme. I think the pilot Musa Manarov, a veteran Russian cosmonaut who spent a total of more than 18 months in space, said it right in 2001 after tourist Dennis Tito made a brief visit to the ISS: "G-forces during take-off off and landing are the principal difficulty.

In my time cosmonauts had to be carefully screened. The explanation was that doctors chose candidates with extra stamina because they did not know where and when the man would go up and under what conditions.

"Although I joined the cosmonauts' team in 1976, I did not fly until 1987. Today's selection criteria are less rigorous, but not much. Even the first space tourist, Tito, was checked thoroughly. Who needs a dead tourist in orbit or upon landing?"

Next: Easing the stresses of space flight

(Andrei Kislyakov is a political commentator for the RIA Novosti news agency. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti.)

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