Rocket blasts off with millionaire US scientist on board
A Russian rocket roared into space today in a burst of flame, launching the world’s third space tourist, US millionaire scientist Gregory Olsen, and a US-Russian crew on a two-day trip to the international space station.
There was a brief gasp from relatives and friends of Olsen, cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and astronaut William McArthur as the Soyuz craft lifted off with an ear-splitting growl from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan just before 10am (5am Irish time) and soared north into the bright autumn sky.
