Mark Shuttleworth (center front) Space Tourist First African in Space Lands in Kazakhstan after spending 8 days in space as the paid guest of the Soviets. It is rumored this space vacation cost just over $20 million. ('Wonder if he got any frequent flyer miles?)
Shuttleworth, age 28, did not play the part of the mundane space tourist, but also conducted experiments on HIV and grew some crystals while in the Space Station. He was also welcomed throughout the entire space station after he spent nearly eight months preparing for the flight with cosmonauts in Russia and trained for a week at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He has become a hero in throughout Africa because of his experiments in space and his positive position in curing HIV, which is epidemic throughout Africa. Shuttleworth held interviews with school students and Nelson Mandella in flight to foster better education and interest with South Africa's students.
Shuttleworth made his fortune after starting an Internet security firm in his parents' garage and selling it four years later for hundreds of millions of dollars. He is the second space tourist, after Dennis Tito went up about a year ago.
Mark Shuttleworth (center front) Space Tourist First African in Space Lands in Kazakhstan after spending 8 days in space as the paid guest of the Soviets. It is rumored this space vacation cost just over $20 million. ('Wonder if he got any frequent flyer miles?)
