He wore a clown nose and grinned like a kid who’d just taken a thrill ride: Guy Laliberté, Canada’s first space tourist, has brought the circus to space.
The founder of the Cirque du Soleil made a light-hearted entry into the International Space Station today, floating with a smile into the orbiting retreat as he prepares to launch the first entertainment show from out of this world.
Mr. Laliberté’s Russian rocket docked at the outpost early this morning without a hitch, safely delivering the 50-year-old and his two fellow crewmen to their new home, 350 kilometres above Earth.
Critics say Mr. Laliberté’s presence at the space station undermines the lab’s scientific credibility. But others say the mogul is taking entertainment into a new frontier, fulfilling his personal ambitions on his ascent from long-haired fire-eater to billionaire to amateur astronaut.
If all goes according to plan, Mr. Laliberté will be master of ceremonies from space next Friday for a global performance involving 14 cities and notable earthlings such as Bono, Shakira, David Suzuki and former U.S. vice-president Al Gore. The show is to promote the One Drop Foundation for access to clean water.
On Friday, one of Mr. Laliberté’s first acts at the space station was to shake the hand of the other Canadian on board – astronaut Robert Thirsk, who was on his 129th day of a six-month mission.
Then he engaged in a long-distance chat with mission control outside Moscow, speaking to his children and his live-in partner, Claudia Barilla. When she asked him how he was feeling, Mr. Laliberté responded, “Pretty good, actually.”
Not everyone is feeling good about Mr. Laliberté’s trip, however.
Prof. Yves Gingras, who holds Canada Research Chair in the History and Sociology of Science, says Mr. Laliberté’s mission underscores the “scientific uselessness” of the international space station. The costly outpost has limited space, and the billionaire is taking up a spot that could have been filled by a scientist, he said.
“I have nothing against Mr. Laliberté. He can do what he wants with his millions,” said Prof. Gingras, who teaches at the University of Quebec at Montreal. “But we didn’t build the space station so we could say, ‘Great! Let’s send a billionaire up there!’ By taking him there, it just confirms what many critics are saying: That there is no science taking place there. This further undermines its scientific credibility.”
But others note Mr. Laliberté is merely following in the footsteps of other space-bound entrepreneurs – he is the world’s seventh paying space sightseer – in putting his fortune into fulfilling his personal goals. His ticket to ride aboard Russia’s Soyuz rocket cost $35 million.
Unlike his space-tourist predecessors, however, he is not a “geek,” said Keith Cowing, editor at the NASA Watch web site.
“He’s the first person whose sole claim to being there is that he’s a performance artist,” Mr. Cowing said. “He was amazingly successful at it, and that’s what gave him the resources to get there.”
Though deep pockets are a pre-requisite, the voyage also requires determination and rigorous training, he added. “It’s not like he decided to go on a cruise. You’ve got to have this tenacity to go,” Mr. Cowing said in an interview from Washington, D.C.
Accompanying Mr. Laliberté for his two-day trip to the space station were astronauts Maxim Surayev of Russia and Jeffrey Williams from the United States. Mr. Laliberté returns to Earth Oct. 11 with two other astronauts.
While a personal milestone for the tycoon, the trip also coincides with the 25th anniversary of Canada’s presence in space. On Oct. 5, 1984, Marc Garneau blasted off on the Space Shuttle Challenger from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and became the first Canadian in space. He’s now a Liberal member of Parliament.
