Russian space team makes newlyweds a highly romantic offer

THE SUNDAY TIMES
December 28, 2003

Russian space team makes newlyweds a highly romantic offer
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Mark Franchetti, Moscow


THEY put the first man in space, then the first tourist. Now the Russians
could make one wealthy couple the first members of the 240- mile-high
club.

In its latest attempt to develop space tourism, Russia is offering a pair
of newlyweds the chance to swap Venice or Paris for cosmic honeymoon
romance on board the International Space Station.

For £27m - the cost of a pair of return tickets - the couple could become
the first to experience the uncharted joys of sex in zero gravity.

"It would bring the mile-high club to new heights," said Rob Volmer of
Space Adventures, a commercial company that has teamed up with the Russian
Aviation and Space Agency to offer the trip..../more/


.....It is unclear whether the Russians have ever carried out research into
sex in space. Valery Polyakov, who holds the space endurance record for a
14-month stint on the Mir space station which ended in 1995, denied that
he had had space sex with Yelena Kondakova, his wife and fellow cosmonaut.

"After suppressing sexual urges for so long they begin to fade," he said.
"When preparing to return to Earth, we try to regain them. The
psychological support service sent us some nice colourful movies which
helped us to recover our appetite."


see :
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspap...944680,00.html