Canada’s space tourist to play the giddy pig
LONGUEUIL, Que.–Canada’s first space tourist may have already been squeezed out of $35 million for the pleasure of spending 12 days in orbit. But some folks are hoping to make Guy Laliberte bleed a little more.
The Cirque du Soleil founder, who blasted off early Wednesday aboard a Russian spacecraft, is expected to take part in some scientific experiments while visiting the International Space Station.
Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk is waiting to greet Laliberte at the station. And Thirsk apparently wants to take as much blood as possible from the 50-year-old circus impresario, for research purposes.
Said Canadian Space Agency boss Steve MacLean: “I said it this way: `We’d like to take as much blood out of you as we can.’… I don’t know the details there, but I know that Guy was quite willing to participate in all of that.”
Laliberte rocketed his way into becoming Canada’s first space tourist from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
He wore his trademark red clown nose before boarding the spacecraft, bid an emotional farewell to his loved ones, and joined fellow astronauts in belting out an old pop tune.
Laliberte gave the cabin’s in-flight camera a double thumbs up minutes after liftoff and told ground control he felt “super.”
Before the launch, the Quebec tycoon said he was determined to play the clown as much as possible while in zero gravity. He has brought along a few red noses to share with his astronaut friends.
“I promise I will plant as much as possible nose clowns in space,” he said.
Laliberte is travelling with Russian cosmonaut Maksim Surayev and American astronaut Jeffrey Williams. It will take two days to reach the space station.
The tycoon has planned a global broadcast from the space station Oct. 9 to shine a spotlight on the world’s dwindling water supply. Former U.S. vice president Al Gore and Colombian pop star Shakira are among the big names expected to add their voices to the broadcast. – Thestar.com
- EthiopianReview.com
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