South Africa
Spaceflight participant (space tourist) – Mark Shuttleworth
Flight – Soyuz TM-34, 25/04/2002
Time in space – 9d 21h 25m
Born on 18 September 1973 in Welkom, South Africa.
On 17 July 2001 he began training for a space flight as a member of the main crew (together with Yuri Gidzenko and Roberto Vittori). On 5 December 2001 he signed a contract with Rosaviakosmos (with the participation of Space Adventures) for a flight to the International Space Station as a member of the visiting expedition.
On 25 April 2002, he was launched on the Soyuz TM-34 spacecraft for his first and only flight to the ISS as a participant in the Visiting Expedition Programme. He became the second commercial spaceflight participant. He paid about $20 million for his trip to space. Two days later, the Soyuz arrived at the International Space Station, where Shuttleworth spent eight days participating in experiments related to genomic research and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
On 5 May 2002, he returned to Earth in the descent module of the Soyuz TM-33 spacecraft. Flight duration was 9 days 21 hours 25 minutes.