Canadian circus billionaire Guy Laliberte blasted off in a Russian Soyuz spaceship from Kazakhstan yesterday to become the world's seventh space tourist.
The 50-year-old former fire-eater and founder of the Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil gave the thumbs-up after the Soyuz TMA-16 spaceship blasted into clear blue skies in a faultless launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome on the Kazakh steppe.
The three-man crew is due to dock with the International Space Station (ISS)tomorrow.
Mr Laliberte has paid more than US$35 million (1.1 billion baht) for the epic journey, in which he plans a webcast linking 14 cities across the world to draw attention to the importance of access to clean water on Earth.
"He's just said 'Super!', he's very happy," Russian cosmonaut and crew member Maxim Suraev said of Mr Laliberte shortly after take-off. Mr Laliberte wore a clown's red nose as he boarded a bus taking him to the spaceship, and a toy lion belonging to Mr Suraev's daughter was in the capsule.
Mr Laliberte, who transformed his passion for acrobatics and circus acts into a world-wide entertainment empire,described his cosmic trip as "the first poetic social mission in space".
"I needed it to be the right time and for the right purpose," he was quoted as saying by flight organiser Space Adventures."This is the time. And the purpose is clear: to raise awareness on water issues to humankind on planet Earth."
The webcast will be carried live on www.onedrop.org on Oct.9. Mr Laliberte is due to return on Oct 11.
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