clarityat3am
I Serve Larry's Stick
I vote to leave him out there after he lifts off.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/21/space.nsync.reut/index.html
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Teen idol Lance Bass, a singer for pop group 'NSYNC, is in talks with Russian officials for a trip to outer space that would open a new frontier for popular entertainment and send him where no other boy band has gone before.
Independent production company Destiny Productions and agents for Bass said Wednesday that talks with officials from the Russian space agency aimed at getting the singer a paid seat on a Soyuz rocket in November were looking "very, very good."
The $25 million deal would include the right to film the 22-year-old teen idol in space for a television special, possibly including Bass singing, and would be partly funded from advertising deals with big brand sponsors based on planet earth.
"It takes $25 million to send someone up. It is a money deal. You got the money, you get the flight," Destiny Productions president David Krieff told Reuters.
"We are not saying it is an absolute, but it looks very very good. We are pretty far advanced in talks with some sponsors. We have already raised half the capital necessary to do it," Krieff added.
Bass, it seems, has been fascinated by space travel since he attended Space Camp near Titusville in Florida at the age of 12. "I am completely overwhelmed at the invitation. I'm looking forward to completing this lifelong dream," he said in a statement.
Bass would be following in the footsteps of California businessman Dennis Tito, who last year became the first person to experience space as a paying guest, and South African Internet magnate Mark Shuttleworth who in December signed an agreement to fly aboard a Soyuz space taxi in April 2002.
If the deal goes through, Bass would undergo six months of intensive training starting in May at Star City, outside Moscow, ahead of a November flight on board a Soyuz rocket with three professional Russian cosmonauts.
Details of the trip are still being worked out but Krieff envisaged a seven- or eight-day mission, possibly to resupply the International Space Station.
Los Angeles-based Destiny Productions has been talking to Russian space officials for almost a year in a bid to arrange a space-based reality television show.
Krieff said the idea of sending Bass into space grew out of those talks, and would be a simpler and less expensive option to arrange. "Some of the sponsors we have been talking to would like to produce a commercial or two at the International Space Station with Lance," he said.
"'NSYNC, whether you love them or hate them, these guys are at the top of their game at the moment."
The five-man band has proved one of the biggest pop sensations since 1998 when their debut album sold 10 million copies. Their third and current album "Celebrity" has already gone platinum.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/21/space.nsync.reut/index.html
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Teen idol Lance Bass, a singer for pop group 'NSYNC, is in talks with Russian officials for a trip to outer space that would open a new frontier for popular entertainment and send him where no other boy band has gone before.
Independent production company Destiny Productions and agents for Bass said Wednesday that talks with officials from the Russian space agency aimed at getting the singer a paid seat on a Soyuz rocket in November were looking "very, very good."
The $25 million deal would include the right to film the 22-year-old teen idol in space for a television special, possibly including Bass singing, and would be partly funded from advertising deals with big brand sponsors based on planet earth.
"It takes $25 million to send someone up. It is a money deal. You got the money, you get the flight," Destiny Productions president David Krieff told Reuters.
"We are not saying it is an absolute, but it looks very very good. We are pretty far advanced in talks with some sponsors. We have already raised half the capital necessary to do it," Krieff added.
Bass, it seems, has been fascinated by space travel since he attended Space Camp near Titusville in Florida at the age of 12. "I am completely overwhelmed at the invitation. I'm looking forward to completing this lifelong dream," he said in a statement.
Bass would be following in the footsteps of California businessman Dennis Tito, who last year became the first person to experience space as a paying guest, and South African Internet magnate Mark Shuttleworth who in December signed an agreement to fly aboard a Soyuz space taxi in April 2002.
If the deal goes through, Bass would undergo six months of intensive training starting in May at Star City, outside Moscow, ahead of a November flight on board a Soyuz rocket with three professional Russian cosmonauts.
Details of the trip are still being worked out but Krieff envisaged a seven- or eight-day mission, possibly to resupply the International Space Station.
Los Angeles-based Destiny Productions has been talking to Russian space officials for almost a year in a bid to arrange a space-based reality television show.
Krieff said the idea of sending Bass into space grew out of those talks, and would be a simpler and less expensive option to arrange. "Some of the sponsors we have been talking to would like to produce a commercial or two at the International Space Station with Lance," he said.
"'NSYNC, whether you love them or hate them, these guys are at the top of their game at the moment."
The five-man band has proved one of the biggest pop sensations since 1998 when their debut album sold 10 million copies. Their third and current album "Celebrity" has already gone platinum.
