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Guy Laliberté (L), Maxim Surayev (C) and Jeffrey Williams (AFP Photo / Dmitry Kostyukov) 09.09.2009, 12:17

New space crew take final exams before flight

The members of the 21st mission to the International Space Station are taking their final pre-flight exams before going to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The three-man crew will set off on a six-month mission on September 30.

Guy Laliberte 02.07.2009, 09:40

Cosmonauts are much like street performers – Guy Laliberte

Former fire-eater and founder of Cirque du Soleil Guy Laliberte has booked a place for this September, becoming possibly the last space tourist for many years. Speaking with RT, he compared cosmonauts to street artists.

Shot taken from a helicopter in the Krasnodar region, June 2009 (Photo from kosmopoisk.org) 29.06.2009, 10:52 29 comments

Mysterious circles shock locals in Russia’s South

Mysterious pictograms consisting of several circles have appeared on a wheat field in Southern Russia’s Krasnodar region. Was it someone’s joke or did aliens visit us?

05.03.2009, 16:22 12 comments

Russia developing anti-satellite weapons

The Russian military are developing anti-satellite weapons, according to deputy defence minister, Vladimir Popovkin.

26.01.2010, 15:40 11 comments

Russian company eyes offensive military satellite

Leading Russian spacecraft producer Energia has presented a concept of a universal military satellite with offensive capabilities.

01.09.2009, 15:40 2 comments

Nothing like the thrill of a stalled engine in midair

With nothing but a couple of frame tubes and strap belts to stop him from falling down, RT’s Ryan Dollard takes to the sky. But what will happen when the engine stops in mid-flight? See for yourselves.

28.01.2010, 10:37 15 comments

Russian nuclear rocket engine may get mankind to other planets

Humans on Mars and beyond and protecting the Earth from asteroids… A new nuclear propulsion system to be used in spacecrafts is set to be developed in Russia.

The Soyuz rocket with Foton-M2 29.08.2009, 03:00 9 comments

Europeans hope to buy Soyuz spacecraft

The European Space Agency seeks to buy a Russian Soyuz rocket as European astronauts make their way into orbit. Europe has asked Russia to increase the number of spacecrafts they produce from four to five per year.

12.01.2010, 10:14 8 comments

Russia to develop nuclear-powered spacecraft

The Russian government plans to allocate millions of dollars to develop a spacecraft propelled by nuclear power. The proposed design could provide the only feasible way to travel to Mars.

NASA's Ares 1-X rocket lifts off from launch pad 39-b at the Kennedy Space Center October 28, 2009 in Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP Photo / Joe Raedle / Getty Images) 28.10.2009, 22:08 6 comments

“It’s time to remove US government from space operations”

The US’s new Ares 1 rocket is a big technical achievement, but it’s unclear whether it’s worth spending billions of dollars for a government vehicle that won’t be ready until 2017, space expert Jeff Manber told RT.

Star pupils

Published: 10 September, 2009, 09:48

Russia, Star City : Canadian space tourist and founder of Cirque du Soleil Guy Laliberte (L), Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev (C) and US astronaut Jeff Williams (R) sit near a Soyuz flight simulator during a training session (AFP Photo / Dmitry Kostyukov)

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TAGS: Space, RT Exclusive, SciTech


The next crew bound for the International Space station consisting of a Russian cosmonaut, a NASA astronaut and a Canadian space tourist, are waiting for the results from their final tests at Moscow's Star City.

The members of the 21st expedition could blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station within three weeks.

They have already completed all sorts of tests and exams and are now only waiting for the final verdict to be announced.

Crew member Maksim Suraev told RT that the space team is ready for the flight.

“The last exams are the most difficult because you need to show all your skills to the instructors and those people preparing the flight. They put a lot of nominal situations and they check your reaction, how you deal with these situations. The last question they ask is: ‘Are you ready or not?’”

Suraev said he is sure the team is ready because they passed the tests with excellent marks.

The founder of Cirque du Soleil and space tourist, Guy Laliberte, shared with RT that for him the most difficult was the medical training on the so-called “rotating chair”.

It consists of sitting on a special chair making rotating. This guy [pointing at Maksim Suraev] is sleeping when he is doing that but it was very difficult for me.”

Laliberte said the whole training program was amazing and well done, and became for him a very serious lifetime experience, physically and academically.

Maksim Suraev said the expedition will have really busy time. They will have three cargo vehicles arriving at the station, they will attach a new module to the Russian segment of the station and they will also relocate Russian Soyuz vehicle docked to the station. Two American shuttles will arrive to the ISS during their mission. But their main job will consist of conducting scientific experiments – 48 of them, to be exact.

Space tourist Guy Laliberte will not only satisfy his dream of going to space, he will also be on a personal philanthropic and politic-social mission. On October 9, he will produce the first ever entertainment production performed in space, live on the Internet and certain broadcasting channels.

Laliberte promised to maximize every minute of his journey spending time in the company of eight cosmonauts and astronauts to be able to understand what they are doing and helping them if possible. He believes that the time he’ll spend just looking at the planet Earth and stars will be fantastic.

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09.09.2009, 13:29

Escape artists should learn from bacteria

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