In a routine familiar to travellers on Earth, shuttle astronauts were spending this morning packing their things, indulging in their surroundings for one last day and making sure their vehicle is ready for the ride home.

A TELECOMS entrepreneur blasted off yesterday on a Russian rocket bound for the international space station, achieving her dream of becoming the world’s first paying female space tourist.

A Russian-built rocket carrying a new US-Russian crew and the world’s first female space tourist lifted off today and streaked into the cloudless sky over Kazakhstan, heading for the international space station.