spacetoday.net: Lance Bass faces Friday funding deadline

Posted: Fri, Aug 23, 2002, 7:42 AM ET (1142 GMT)
Lance Bass (MirCorp)

There is as yet no clear indication whether pop star Lance Bass will be able to make a Friday deadline for a key payment for his October Soyuz space flight, as funding negotiations continue. Last week the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos set a Friday deadline for a long-delayed payment for the flight; the size of the payment required has not been disclosed. While David Krieff, the producer who is arranging funding for the flight, had previously claimed that he has lined up several sponsors, payment has been delayed for reasons ranging from misrouted paperwork to renegotiation of contract issues. Jeffrey Manber, president of MirCorp, told SPACE.com that negotiations have been "very positive" but that they would still come down to the wire. However, Russian officials have said that are willing to launch cargo to the station in place of Bass if the funding does not come through. Even if Bass does not fly, though, he will have at least experienced zero gravity: on Thursday he flew on a zero-g airplane flight in Russia organized by Space Adventures.