Lance Bass
Photo: CNN
"I know physically I can do it, I know mentally I can do it. We just have to work out the fine little details. 'NSYNC's Lance Bass
"Let's just say the doctors know more about me than I know about me," Lance Bass told reporters convened for a press conference at Moscow's Savoy Hotel.
For the last four months, the 'NSYNC star has endured a battery of physical examinations in the pursuit of becoming the next civilian in space (see " 'NSYNC's Lance Bass Plans To Leave Earth"). On Friday (May 31), he announced that he'd finally passed the medical component of qualifying for a seat on a Russian rocket mission this fall (see " 'NSYNC's Lance Bass In Moscow For Space Tests").
"With such a thorough physical, you're going to find things that you might need to take care of," Bass said, explaining an outpatient procedure he underwent earlier this month in Boston to correct an irregular heartbeat, his last obstacle before finishing his centrifuge and pressurized chamber tests (see "Lance Bass Continuing Space Tests In U.S."). "Even though that might not cause any problems in space, we wanted to check it out further, so I had a procedure, and it totally cured it . ... I was surprised it worked, because I was getting down, like, 'I'm not going to get to go.' "
Though getting certified by the state medical commission was a major hurdle, it doesn't ensure a ticket to ride. "It's a gamble," Bass said. "I like to be positive. I'm an optimist, so I'm pretty confident that we will be able to pull this off. I know physically I can do it, I know mentally I can do it. We just have to work out the fine little details."
Some of those little details include not-so-little matters of funding, since it costs $20 million for a civilian to join a cosmonaut crew and visit the International Space Station. But thanks to RadioShack, the first corporate sponsor to step up to the space plate, Bass has a down payment for the mission: one-fourth of the total cost. That gains the pop star entry to start training at Star City near Moscow next week. "I love Russia," Bass said, "and I definitely can live here for the rest of this year for this mission. I can't wait to."
While training, Bass is determined to learn Russian, at least enough to be considered "quasi-fluent." He said he plans to start tutoring in a week. "I can't wait to learn a new language," he said. "It's going to be difficult, but I'm looking forward to it."
Training alongside Bass will be his space tourist rival, Lori Garver, a former NASA official who has since become Bass' backup should he be unable to go. "The plan is, I would love to go up in October," Bass said, "and she'll go up in April," when the next scheduled Russian rocket would launch. (Soyuz rockets fly every six months to the ISS.)
"I have learned so much from this lady in the last two weeks," Bass said of Garver. "We met in D.C. a month ago and I immediately loved her. She's so brilliant and is so dedicated to this project. ... She's like a human encyclopedia when it comes to space. And I definitely wouldn't have had so much fun without her being right there. We've had some good times here in Russia."
While the two start training, they need to finalize their funding issues so that the Russian Space Agency can consider both of them as candidates. The Russian Space Agency said earlier this week that it hadn't received proposals from either Bass or Garver and cautioned that there would be little chance for either to complete the five months of required training before the next rocket launch on October 22, and that a cosmonaut not a space tourist would get the seat instead.
"The Russian Space Agency has released a few things," Bass said, "and basically, that's because they're telling the truth. They have not gotten a formal proposal on it yet. And what can they say when they don't have anything in their hands? And that's what we're waiting on now. We had to get all our ducks in a row before we can submit a formal proposal, which is going out next week, I believe."
Though he doesn't anticipate any problems with his candidacy, Bass acknowledged that there is no guarantee he'll get to blast off. "Nothing is certain, I think, with any mission," Bass said, "up to a week before it goes up, before they choose the final crew."
Even if Bass were selected, his worries aren't over. The trip itself isn't without its dangers, and the insurance polices alone are overwhelming. Bass said that he remains undaunted and keeps his eye on what he could accomplish, were he granted the opportunity. Thus far, a camera crew has been documenting his physical examinations and procedures including the one for his irregular heartbeat for a proposed documentary/reality show to air on a network that has yet to be announced. Showing what testing and training entails, he said, could be educational as well as drum up interest in the space program.
"Of course, there is danger in anything you do, and this is a dangerous thing," Bass said. "But when you're surrounded by so many incredible and brilliant people, down to the little nitpicky problems that might arise, they will know what to do. So I put my life in hundreds of people's hands.
"I'm just excited about it," he continued. "Of course, I'm nervous about it. I will be very nervous the day of the launch, but it's more exciting to me. ... It takes guts to do what everyone here is doing. You feel like a pioneer in creating something new. I'm glad that we're actually bringing back interest in the space program. ... It makes me feel like a great spokesperson for the space program."
To that end, Bass hopes to conduct scientific experiments aboard the ISS, as did previous space tourist Mark Shuttleworth in April, so that he can bring something back for kids to learn about in school. Though he hadn't determined what his focus would be just yet, he said he's interested in environmental studies and physics.
"I've learned so much in the last three weeks here in Russia, things that I never knew existed: the difference between cosmonauts and astronauts and [between] NASA the Russian Space Agency," he said, "It's just amazing [to learn] how far they have gone and how advanced they are. I'm excited to bring that to television and to the public the way Russia works, the way America works and how we're all united now and finally sharing space together. That's a huge thing to show."
Jennifer Vineyard
Posted by Jen on Saturday, June 1, 2002 @ 11:30 a.m.
MOSCOW, May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Lance Bass of *NSYNC and "AstroMom" Lori Garver today announced that RadioShack (NYSE: RSH - News) has brought them together by supporting both their efforts to fly to the International Space Station (ISS).
RadioShack, which kicked off the music star's space bid by financing his medical screening at the Institute for BioMedical Problems in Moscow, has now also provided support to Ms. Garver. DFI International/It's Time LLC, where Garver heads up a space consulting practice, provided the initial funding for her medical screening.
"Lori and Lance now are coordinating their efforts to blast off to the space station on a Russian Soyuz rocket, which delivers a fresh lifeboat to the ISS every six months," said Jim McDonald, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising for RadioShack Corporation in Fort Worth, Texas. "RadioShack made history last year by filming the first TV commercial on the space station, showing a Father's Day gift from RadioShack being delivered to cosmonaut-dad Yuri Usachev."
Both aspiring space travelers today received preliminary certification of their medical fitness to fly to space from Russian authorities. Centrifuge tests were the most exciting; this giant machine spun them up to simulate the extra weight that comes during the acceleration of a Soyuz launch and the deceleration of the return to Earth.
The next Soyuz flights are scheduled for mid October 2002 and late April 2003, and one seat on each is available on a commercial basis to adventurers like Lance Bass and Lori Garver. Both are in discussions with additional sponsors and television networks to expand their support beyond RadioShack.
"It's been a great experience for me at the Institute for Biomedical Problems," said Bass of his medical screening, which began in March in Moscow and continued with tests in the United States between concert dates of the recently completed *NSYNC tour. "The eight G's on the centrifuge test was awesome, and a lot of fun."
Jeffrey Manber, president of Mir-Corp in Amsterdam, is working with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and RSC Energia to develop a business and training plan to assist the two space enthusiasts.
David Gump, president of LunaCorp in Arlington, Virginia, is RadioShack's advisor on space exploration projects.
David Krieff, president of Destiny Productions in Los Angeles, is working with television networks on the financing and creative vision for Lance Bass's trip.
Jim Rossi and Jack Daley, Principals of Space Marketing Mission, lead the AstroMom/It's Time project's media, corporate and educational sponsorship program.
Posted by Jen on Saturday, June 1, 2002 @ 11:16 a.m.
Fri May 31,12:01 PM ET
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer
The British music industry is singing the blues U.S. fans have lost that lovin' feeling.
Last month, for the first time since 1963, there were no British artists in the Billboard Hot 100 singles and tracks chart and now some in the industry are calling for a music "embassy" to promote the country's artists in the United States.
"British people tend to assume that pop is British. It isn't it's American," said John Aizlewood, a London-based music writer and broadcaster. "Europe likes America's music. It's more that America doesn't need British music."
Americans who embraced Beatlemania, prog rock and the New Romantics have been left cold by Britpop and U.K. Garage. A music industry report released this week says the British share of Billboard's annual top 100 albums chart has plummeted from a high of 32 percent in 1986 when bands like Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys and Simple Minds rode the British wave to just 0.2 percent in 1999 and 1.7 percent in 2000.
Last year, the share was 8.8 percent but more than one-third of the British sales were of a single album, The Beatles "1" anthology.
There has long been a fertile musical cross-pollination across the Atlantic. Americans invented rock 'n' roll, but Britain produced The Beatles and the Rolling Stones in return. Punk may have started with the Ramones and the New York Dolls, but the Sex Pistol and the Clash inspired a new generation of American punks.
Now, it seems, all the traffic is in one direction.
This week's British Top 20 singles chart is topped by U.S. rapper Eminem (news - web sites) and includes American artists such as Fat Joe and Pink, as well as the Canadian band Nickelback and the Colombian singer Shakira.
In contrast, the U.S. chart is virtually a Brit-free zone. The highest British entry in the top 100, Craig David, lies at No. 50.
Industry figures are so worried here they have urged the government to establish a musical mission to promote British bands in the United States.
Published this week, the report "Make or Break Supporting U.K. Music in the U.S.A." said a British music office in New York could provide British record companies and managers with valuable information, office facilities and industry contacts.
"Other countries are having far more impact in the U.S., which is slightly embarrassing and somewhat upsetting," said Guy Holmes, founder of Gut Records.
"The U.S. market is very complex, and if we can put people in place over there with a good knowledge of it, we have a much better chance."
Some say that British acts lack the stamina to make it in the United States. Over the last few years, a stream of British music heroes from Oasis to Robbie Williams have crossed the Atlantic and come back chastened.
Aizlewood says British bands often underestimate the sheer slog of touring required to make an impact in the vast United States. Others have criticized British musicians for being too insular, or in the case of bands like Travis, a mild-mannered Scottish quartet that regularly tops British charts too inoffensive to gain an international audience in this era of hip-hop and nu metal.
"There isn't anyone who's really bright enough or original enough to make a global impact," said Aizlewood. "That's not the decline of British music. It's just one of those phases.
"Because America is so huge and so diverse, everything you want musically is available," he added. "That's why it's so difficult to break through."
The U.S. charts are remarkably nationalistic. According to the industry report, 92 percent of records sold in the United States are by American artists.
The report's backers say a New York-based British music office could help change that. But Aizlewood says the idea smacks of desperation.
"It's ludicrous," he said. "You can't force people to listen to music, and you can't run the music industry on a quota system."
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has said it will consider the report's findings.
Posted by Jen on Saturday, June 1, 2002 @ 11:11 a.m.
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