In April 2001, US national Dennis Tito, after reportedly paying
US$20 000 000 for the privilege,30 spent six days in the Russian section of the
International Space Station (‘ISS’) following a period of extensive training at
Russia’s Star City complex. For the first time, a passenger was able to pay for
the opportunity of participating in a mainstream space project involving actual
orbital travel, including a stay in the world’s most expensive ‘hotel’. Whilst on the ISS, Tito reportedly spent his time ‘photographing the Earth and listening to
opera’.