May 30
A British data analyst, Ian Anderson 32, will soon join the ranks of astronauts and multi-millionaire businessmen after winning a competition to fly 62 miles above the Earth.
He was asked to choose the "best invention of all time" to gain a place aboard the pioneering Xerus rocket plane. He selected radio.
Until now, only five private individuals have flown into space, with the Russian space programme providing transport.
The first fee-paying space tourist was American businessman Dennis Tito in 2001, who paid just over £10million for a week-long trip on a Russian spacecraft. Mr. Anderson will be transported on the U.S.-based Xerus, which has not yet flown.
It should be ready by 2009 when the trip is scheduled to take place.
The plane, being developed by the Californian rocket company XCOR Aerospace in conjunction with space travel concern Space Adventures, is designed solely for such tourist trips. Looking like a miniature space shuttle, it will carry one pilot and one passenger.
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company is due to launch regular space flights in 2009.
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