Will Bump An American Astronaut From A Soyuz Flight For The Privilege

Singer Sarah Brightman plans to pony up more than $51 million for a seat on a Soyuz spacecraft to take a vacation at the International Space Station ... and her trip will take up a slot that was to have been used by an American astronaut.

But Brightman reportedly outbid NASA for the seat, according to a report from ABC News. As a result, an American will wind up spending a full year on the station because of limited seat availability, a plan previously agreed to by NASA.

The space agency says having one of its astronauts spend a year in space will be beneficial to medical research. They say the year-long stay will give them some insight into long-endurance flights such as to asteroids or Mars.

Roscosmos is the only space agency that is willing to take tourists to the ISS. NASA would not do it ... even when they had a vehicle that could get there. The retirement of the shuttle makes that point moot.

Tourists have been carried into space on flights arranged by Space Adventures seven times since 2001. The price has increased from a reported low of $22 million to the $50 million-plus it takes today. That's due to the laws of supply and demand. There are fewer Soyuz seats available these days, so the price has gone up. Apparently "Phantom of the Opera" star Brightman has that spare $51 million rattling around in her purse, and the Russians are willing to sell to the highest bidder. She will reportedly fly on a mission in 2014 or 2015.

ABC News reports that there have been several volunteers for the year-long space station stay among the U.S. astronaut corps. NASA has no plans for a manned mission to the station for at least five years.

FMI: www.nasa.gov