First Repeat Space Tourist Arrives at ISS

Billionaire Cirque founder will 'tickle astros' feet,' highlight water crisis

(NEWSER) - Canadian billionaire Guy LaLiberte became the 7th paying tourist—and the first clown—in space when he blasted off early today to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft. LaLiberte, founder of Cirque de Soliel, says he plans to crack jokes and tickle the other astronauts' feet as well as help raise awareness of the world's drinking water crisis during his stay on the station. He paid $35 million for the ride. More»

(NEWSER) - Fearing a strike by orbiting space junk, the three astronauts on the International Space Station evacuated to an attached capsule this morning, the Houston Chronicle reports. Though the chance of impact was slight, the debris—a 4-inch piece of an old rocket—could have caused major damage to the station. The astronauts returned safely minutes after the item passed within 3 miles. More»

Bottle will remain sealed, hit museums

(NEWSER) - The Discovery crew will leave the International Space Station today for the first of two spacewalks—and one of their missions is to capture a sample of space in a metal bottle. The bottle will be given to Japan's space agency, which says it will remain sealed and make the museum rounds to provide "a conduit between humans and space." The astronauts will also put some finishing touches on the space station, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More»

Firm says 'comfortable' space station will be up by 2016

(NEWSER) - A Russian firm has good news for would-be space tourists worried about lousy food or getting cramped by astronauts performing experiments. Orbital Technologies says it aims to have a "comfortable" space hotel circling the Earth by 2016, the BBC reports. Chief exec Sergei Kostenko says the hotel will have four cabins—complete with portholes—and the company is thinking about having celebrity chefs on the ground prepare meals for guests. More»

Despite earlier glitch, landing goes flawlessly

(NEWSER) - Russia's Soyuz space capsule safely touched down in a Kazakhstan steppe this morning, reports the AP, landing flawlessly a day after being delayed by an undocking glitch with the International Space Station. "That was almost a bull's-eye landing," said a NASA spokesman as Russian officials swarmed the landing site to pull astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson and cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko from the Soyuz. More»