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SPACE tourist Mark Shuttleworth will conduct biology experiments involving rat and ewe stem cells during his stay on the International Space Station (ISS), his scientific adviser said on Monday.
The 28-year-old millionaire is to blast off on April 25 in a Soyuz capsule with Russian commander Yury Gidzenko and Italian engineer Roberto Vittori to spend some 10 days onboard the ISS.
While in space, Shuttleworth will study the development of rat and ewe stem cells in microgravity, Interfax news agency quoted Stellenbosch university professor Daniel Barry as saying.
In the course of the experiment, he would inject ”several elements” into the cells, Barry added.
The space cells would then be frozen to be submitted to further experiments on earth once Shuttleworth returned, he went on.
Like the first space tourist, 60-year-old American Dennis Tito, who made his trip last April, Shuttleworth expects to pay $20-million dollars (23 million euros) for the experience of a lifetime.
But unlike Tito, whose presence on the ISS caused a major row with US space agency Nasa, the South African will be able to walk freely around the space station, including the American segment, according to Russian officials.
US teen pop idol Lance Bass from boy band ‘N Sync is hoping to become the world’s first entertainer to fly to space. He is looking to follow in Tito and Shuttleworth’s footsteps and visit the ISS in October. – Sapa-AFP