Californian millionaire to become first space tourist

Russian officials are to allow a Californian millionaire to become the first tourist in space.

Dennis Tito, the founder of an investment firm, will join the crew on a mission to the International Space Station on April 28.

Tito will reportedly pay $20m for the flight.

He will spend about a week on the station, despite objections from NASA that an amateur on board could jeopardise safety if there were an emergency.

He passed his final astronaut exam by practising manoeuvres in a Russian Soyuz capsule simulator outside Moscow.

A government committee approved the results.

Mr Tito will be accompanied into orbit by Soyuz commander Talgat Musabayev and flight engineer Yuri Baturin, another latecomer to space flight - he served as an aide to former President Boris Yeltsin before joining Russia's manned space programme.

Their mission is to dock their fresh Soyuz vehicle to the station and then fly a used one back to Earth.

The Russian-made Soyuz serves as escape pods for the station's crew, and one must be docked to the outpost at all times.