Japan鈥檚 first would-be space tourist, 35-year-old Daisuke Enomoto, has failed a medical test and will not be allowed to travel to space next month as scheduled, a Russian space agency official said on Monday.
鈥淗e will not be able to fly in September,鈥� confirmed Igor Panarin, a spokesman for the space agency Roskosmos. Panarin declined to provide details on the failed medical exam, saying the information was 鈥渃onfidential鈥�.
Enomoto, also known as 鈥淒ice-K鈥�, made his fortune in the Internet business, He agreed to pay nearly $20 million to fly to the International Space Station and has been undergoing intensive training in Russia for months.
Advertisement
鈥淚t is not ruled out that after additional measures are taken, he could fly in the future. But this will take time,鈥� Panarin said.
Enomoto, a self-confessed Japanese cartoon geek, said earlier he wanted to gaze down at the Earth dressed as an ace pilot from a hit animation series.
His place on the Soyuz capsule taking off on 14 September from Russia鈥檚 Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan will 鈥減robably鈥� be taken by US national Anousheh Ansari, Panarin said.
Ansari was a sponsor of the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight, which was awarded in 2004 (see ).
US millionaire Dennis Tito was the first tourist to travel in space in 2001, followed by South African Mark Shuttleworth in 2002 and US businessman Greg Olsen in 2005.
Olsen was also rejected by the Russian space agency for health reasons in June 2004 before his trip was finally authorised at the end of 2005.
