In April 2002, the aptly named South African, Mark Shuttleworth, became the
world’s second space tourist. Like Tito, he was launched onto the ISS by the
Russian Space Agency. This ‘Afronaut’ spent eight days on the ISS conducting
scientific experiments, including a number relating to the HIV virus. The
symbolic relevance of his work — South Africa is one of the countries worst
affected by HIV/AIDS — gave further credibility to the worth of orbital space
tourism, even though it was still the sole domain of the exceptionally wealthy.
South Africa’s then-President Thabo Mbeki, described Shuttleworth as ‘a
courageous pioneer for South Africa and his continent, Africa’