The Ultimate Vacation: Chronicles Of A Citizen In Space

Gregory Olsen, space, Soyuz, ISS, tourism, space participant, Space Adventures

Gegory Olsen in space.

Feeling the rocket lifting and leaving Earth behind was the best moment of the whole experience. I thought: "Wow, I'm going into space! This is really happening!" I was very happy.

Gregory Olsen , U.S.

Date Posted: 09/05/06

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Have you ever wanted to travel to outer space? Experience weightlessness? See the whole Earth out the window of your spaceship? For most of us, it's just a dream-or a nightmare! So far, only 450 people have ever travelled in space, all but three of them cosmonauts and astronauts.

But for lucky people with the US $20 million for a ticket to space, it's a dream come true. In a couple of weeks, the first female space tourist, Iranian-US businesswoman Anousheh Ansari, will blast off from Russia and travel to the International Space Station in high orbit around the earth.

While Ansari orbits the earth, back in New York, Gregory Olsen will be following her progress - he's one of the three who have been there before.

On the eve of the expansion of a very exclusive, club, Olsen tells Orato the amazing story of his own 10-day journey to the Space Station aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-7 capsule last year.

As every child, I've always dreamed of traveling to space, the "Final Frontier." I witnessed the landing on the Moon, back in 1969, and ever since I have been fascinated and captivated by the idea of exploring the cosmos. I just never thought I would actually go there.

I remember the exact moment I knew I'd go. It was June 18, 2003. I was sitting in Starbucks that morning reading The New York Times, as I do every day, when a story about space tourism caught my attention. I read how a company called Space Adventures had taken American Dennis Tito and South African Mark Shutlleworth to space. It was then I realized I wanted to be the next one.

As soon as I got to my office I looked the company up on the Internet. In a matter of no more than three hours, I had already contacted them and paid a deposit to ensure my journey. They called me back the same day and made an appointment to come visit. A week or two later, Eric Anderson, President of Space Adventures, was in my office. He explained all the details involved in this adventure: the training phases, cancellation policies, insurances and such. I learned we both had lots in common. We even went to the same university (University of Virginia). The more I talked to Eric the more I felt I've made the right decision. It'd take me almost three years, though, to make my boyhood dream come true.

The "D-day" was October 1, 2005. The place, Baikonur, Kazakhstan and the Mission that now is part of space exploration history: Soyuz TMA-7.

Feeling the rocket lifting and leaving Earth behind was the best moment of the whole experience. I thought: "Wow, I'm going into space!