Posted: Wed, Jun 23, 2004, 1:26 PM ET (1726 GMT)
Russian officials have rejected a bid by American businessman Gregory Olsen to fly to the International Space Station on health issues, Russian media reported Wednesday. Olsen was slated to become the third commercial space tourist by flying on a Soyuz taxi flight to the ISS in April 2005. However, Russian officials declared late Tuesday that Olsen was "medically unfit" despite earlier tests that showed him to be fit to fly. According to MosNews, doctors determined that Olsen could not handle the accelerations associated with launch. Space Adventures, the space tourism company that arranged Olsen's flight, had no comment. There was no previous indication that Olsen suffered from health problems; the last entry in an online training log kept by Olsen, dated June 17, described his being fitted for a spacesuit.

Related Links:

•  Interfax article
•  RIA Novosti article
•  AP article
•  MosNews article
•  Gregory Olsen's training log