Russian Space Agency Says They'll Need Them All For Official Business

A Russian Space Agency official says that after the retirement of the U.S. Space Shuttle, there will be no more seats available to transport tourists to ISS on Soyuz spacecraft. 

Sergei Krikalyov, the chief of the Cosmonaut Training Center, said since the permanent crew has expanded to six, all positions in the three-place Soyuz, which will be the only means of getting personnel to and from the space station, will be need for crew transport. "When there was a spare place, the space tourist could fly together with the main crew and return back with them," Krikalyov told reporters at the training center in Star City outside Moscow. "Now that we have switched to a six-person crew, there is no spare room."

The Associated Press reports that Guy Laliberte, the Canadian founder of Cirque du Soleil paid $35 million for his recent 10-day trip to the station.

Krikalyov made his remarks during exams for a crew set to lift off for the station in late December. The crew includes Russian Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi of Japan and NASA astronaut Timothy J. Creamer. He said without elaboration that "the situation will remain the same for the nearest flights."

FMI: http://www.roscosmos.ru/index.asp?Lang=ENG