New US-Russian Crew Heads for Space Station With Third Space Tourist

A new crew will soon be on its way to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spaceship. A Russian cosmonaut and U.S. astronaut will take off Friday from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and are to arrive at the outpost Monday for a six-month stay. Riding with them will be an American space tourist, the third private citizen to take the trip to the ISS.

Joining them on the way up to the station is U.S. scientist and entrepreneur Gregory Olsen, the owner of a New Jersey company that makes electronic optical equipment. He paid the Russian space agency $20 million for the opportunity.