BILLIONAIRE internet tycoon Mark Shuttleworth’s trip into space will be broadcast live on DStv by Multichoice, the company said on Monday.
Shuttleworth (28) who will be the first African and the second tourist in space, will be one of three cosmonauts launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station (ISS), where he will spend eight days.
”South Africa has a great role to play in the future of Africa, and space provides a unique platform from which to address some of Africa’s challenges,” Shuttleworth said in a statement.
The launch is expected to be on April 25.
The date is however, dependant on numerous factors, including the orbit height of the ISS and the weather.
Shuttleworth will conduct numerous experiments while on the ISS.
These will include biotechnology experiments on Aids and cancer, medicine design and testing, environmental care and waste management.
Others will be on the effects of pollution, deforestation, climatology, and global warming. There will also be tests on the way genetics affect a human’s metabolism, while research will also be done on the development of technology in space.
Shuttleworth will cover the cost of the experiments on condition that all the results are released to the public.
Before being able to join his fellow crew members, Italian Roberto Vettori and Russian Yuri Gidzenko, Shuttleworth has had to undergo three months of intense training at Star City outside Moscow.
He has confirmed that he is paying $20-million (about R224-million) for the trip, the same sum American Dennis Tito paid Russian space agencies last year to become the world’s first space tourist.
Live coverage of the docking of the Soyuz spacecraft with the ISS and live interviews with the billionaire will be aired by Multichoice.
A feed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s educational television channel will be the backbone of the coverage.
Viewers will among other things learn how Shuttleworth will eat, sleep and go to the toilet in space.
The 24-hour DStv channel, dubbed ”First African in Space,” opens on April 23 on channel 38. – Sapa