Aussie Author Grieve Plans Oct 2005 Soyuz Tourism Flight

Can any of our associates from Oz tell us more about this guy,
and how serious are his plans and/or chances?

From 'Novosti Kosmonavtiki' (News of Cosmonautics) page, news by Aleksandr
Zheleznyakov,
July 21, 00:02 Moscow Time -- Yet Another Candidate for Tourism in Space --

"The well-known Australian writer Bradley Trevor Grieve has announced his
intention to make a space flight aboard a Russian Soyuz. According to data
from the internet-news agency strana.ru, Grieve has already performed
training in Star City and hopes to be included in the crew of Soyuz TMA-7,
the start of which is planned for October 2005."

JimO adds: A long interview with him, in Russian, is at
http://www.strana.ru/stories/03/06/25/3355/221566.html

"Jim Oberg"
tell us more about this guy,

JimO adds: A long interview with him, in Russian, is at
http://www.strana.ru/stories/03/06/25/3355/221566.html

Ensuing errors are inevitably my own. KB.
-------

20 July 2004
Australian writer and future cosmonaut passes training tests.

Possibly the secret of its success lies in the unusual positivism of
thinking, to take your dreams seriously and try to live life in the
manner that you (imagine.) This means flying into space on the Soyuz.
Bradley Trevor Grieve is an extraordinary individual.

"I have given more interviews than I can count" he told his interviewer
Mary Sveshnikov during a break in his training schedule.

S: To me it is incomprehensible what can impel a man to fly into space.
Is this a continuation of your early interest in parachuting?


G: You know about this? The desire to fly into space started at a young
age. It has been my dream for a long time. Not all dreams happen, of
course, but some can happen, such as this one, for example. Especially
if you want it very much and are willing to work for it. I am very happy
to come to Russia and have the privilege to train at Star City, and to
pass the training. It has been an enormous physical and emotional load,
but everything has been what I expected.

S:Were you pleased with the training you received? Do you know when the
flight is scheduled?

G: At Star City there were many unusual things, connected with the
cosmos, but there are smaller things, and it is possible to delight in
mastering the small details of being a Cosmonaut. Very strict tests are
necessary for this. Russia has a long list of successful flight due to
this.

If you want to fly to the starts, it is best to turn to those who have
already been there. But I mainly aspired to obtain the two certificates.
One was signed by the head physician stating that I was suitable for
flight. This was a significant attainment because in my early life I had
many broken bones and had metal brackets installed. Also I was the
largest cosmonaut to pass the training. So I hold the record for size
and the record for broken equipment.

S: The flight is planned for the second half of 2005. When did you
begin to admire Gagarin, and why do you admire such a wide range of
people from Einstein to Schwarzenegger?


G: I think that people now cannot even visualize the courage of Gagarin's
mission in Vostok. Indeed the ship was very small, and it rose above the
clouds. It was the first, and necessitated enormous courage and devotion
in order to accomplish the mission.

Gagarin and other pioneers enlarged our vision of the universe. Einstein
changed our view on the essence of the universe, on its structure.

But Schwartzenegger changed out view of ourseleves, he completed changed
himself, from the soldier in Austria, to an athlete, ten an actor, then
governor of an enormous state. I cannot say I would like to be like
Schwartzenegger, but it pleases me that there are no boundaries when
people do not limit themselves to a framework. I literature, science,
sport, and the military, people seek their goals without limitiations.
Possibly my flight into space is precisely an attempt to follow their
example, to achieve without limits.


S: You were born in a medical family. Did you ever want to pursue that?
When did you decide to become a parachutist?

My father was a surgeon, and my mother was a nurse. But each much choose
for himself. Nevertheless I had so many injuries that I spent as much
time in the hospital as they did. I love my parents and admire them.
Before I entered military training my father took me to the hospital and
let me watch him operate. I could see that this was not the kind of work
for me. I always wanted to write books. And now I have followed my
dreams to Russia. My parents are proud of me and I am grateful for their
support. I admit that while we have the same general values, but in this
case different dreams.

clip long discourse on the merits of various authors.
=======
Grieve was born on the island of Tasmania. Before settling in Sydney, he
lived in Scotland, Singapore, and Hong Kong. After graduating from the
Royal Military College and overcoming his long-standing fear of heights,
he served as an officer in airborne troops. Feeling that military
service did not offer sufficient opportunities for creativity, Greive
left military service.

After several endeavors, Grieve settled on being a writer, artist, and
caricaturist. In April 2000, after nine years of rejections, he had his
first book published.

His books are now wildly popular, making him one of the most successful
Australian writers. In June 2004 the number of his published books
exceeded 10 million.

During his trip to Russia, in addition to passing his cosmonaut
examinations, he would like to see the Ussuri tiger in its natural
habitat and would like to visit the museum home of the writer P.Chekov.