Dennis Tito
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dennis Anthony Tito | |
 |
|
| Spaceflight Participant | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 8, 1940 Queens, New York |
| Other occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Time in space | 7d 22h 04m |
| Missions | Soyuz TM-32, International Space Station, Soyuz TM-31 |
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2008) (Find sources: Dennis Tito – news, books, scholar) |
Dennis Anthony Tito (born August 8, 1940 in Queens, New York) is a United States multimillionaire most widely known as the first space tourist to pay for his own ticket. In mid-2001 he spent nearly eight days in orbit on Soyuz TM-32, the International Space Station, and Soyuz TM-31.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Tito has a Bachelor of Science in Astronautics and Aeronautics from New York University, 1962 and a Master of Science in Engineering Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute satellite campus in Hartford, Connecticut. He is a member of Psi Upsilon and received an honorary doctorate of engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on 18 May 2002 and is a former scientist of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1972, he founded Wilshire Associates, a leading provider of investment management, consulting and technology services in Santa Monica, California. Tito serves an international clientèle representing assets of $12.5 trillion. Wilshire relies on the field of quantitative analytics, which uses mathematical tools to analyze market risks - a methodology Tito is credited with helping to develop by applying the same techniques he used to determine a spacecraft's path at JPL. Despite a career change from aerospace engineering to investment management, Tito remained interested in space exploration.
Tito was appointed to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Board of Commissioners in the 1990s and led the board to support the landmark 1994 state ruling protecting Mono Lake from excessive water diversions by the city.
In 1964 Tito had a short spell playing in goal for Hartlepool United, but soon left.
[edit] Space flight
In a project first arranged by MirCorp, Tito was accepted by the Russian Federal Space Agency as a candidate. Tito met criticism from NASA before the launch, primarily from Daniel Goldin, at that time the Administrator of NASA, who considered him "un-American" for using the Russian Soyuz as his ticket to space. When Tito arrived at the Johnson Space Center for additional training on the American sections of the ISS, Robert Cabana, NASA manager, sent Tito and his two fellow cosmonauts home, stating "...We will not be able to begin training, because we are not willing to train with Dennis Tito."
Later, through an arrangement with space tourism company Space Adventures, Ltd., Tito joined Soyuz TM-32 on April 28, 2001, spending 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in space and orbiting Earth 128 times. Tito performed several scientific experiments in orbit that he said would be useful for his company and business. Tito paid a reported $20 million for his trip, although close friends[specify] suggest it was much less, as low as $12 million.
Since returning from space, he has testified at the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space and the House Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics Joint Hearing on "Commercial Human Spaceflight" on July 24, 2003.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
 |
This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009) |
- Klerkx, Greg. Lost in Space, The Fall of NASA. Random House: New York. 2004. ISBN 0-375-42150-5
[edit] External links
- Tito the spaceman BBC web site (accessed Feb. 2006)
- Spacefacts biography of Dennis Tito
