'Afronaut' reaches space station

Space tourist Mark Shuttleworth has arrived at the International Space Station.

The businessman, dubbed the Afronaut in his native South Africa, will carry out a series of stem cell and Aids experiments during his trip.

He is believed to have paid around £14m (€22m) and has been in training for months.

Mr Shuttleworth was accompanied by Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko on board a Soyuz rocket which left the Baikonur space complex in Kazakhstan on Thursday.

The Soyuz spacecraft will serve as the space station's lifeboat.

The 28-year-old businessman is the first African citizen to fly in space and his trip has generated huge excitement in South Africa.

The group will leave next Saturday night in a Soyuz that has been attached to the 250 mile-high complex for the past six months.

Inside space station Alpha, the two Americans and one Russian who have been residents since December were delighted to have more guests.

They said goodbye on April 17 to seven visiting shuttle astronauts who spent a week doing extensive construction work.