Billionaire jets off to space

Updated 13.14 Fri Apr 13 2007
Keywords: The Soyuz rocket, Charles Simonyi, space, billionaire

Billionaire Charles Simonyi is the fifth person to pay to for a holiday in space, with the trip setting him back just £20 million.

The Soyuz rocket has set off on its 13-day journey orbiting the International Space Station with tourist Charles on board.

The Soyuz rocket has set off on its 13-day journey orbiting the international spacestation with tourist Charles on board

Simonyi brought along a gourmet meal for his comrades, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov - including quail roasted in Madiran wine and confit of duck, which should make a nice change from the dried food they are used to.

Simonyi has been trained in what to expect but has also been given a few pointers from an earlier space tourist, Gregory Olsen, the US millionaire scientist who did a stint on the space station in 2005.

Olsen gave Simonyi a cheat sheet on how to eat and drink while in orbit but apparently stopped short of providing instructions on how to go to the toilet.

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