Posted: Thu, Jan 31, 2002, 9:46 PM ET (0246 GMT)
NASA released to the public Thursday guidelines approved by the International Space Station partner nations for crews visiting the orbiting outpost. The "ISS Crew Criteria Document", dated November 28, 2001, provides only general requirements for long-term and visiting crews to the station, including both professional astronauts and non-professional "spaceflight participants" such as tourists. The document does outline criteria to be used to disqualify potential crewmembers, including drug and alcohol abuse, criminal backgrounds, and "notoriously disgraceful conduct." The document also includes basic medical, psychological, and language criteria, but does not go into detail regarding training or medical requirements. The criteria document was created by the partner nations in the wake of last year's flight by space tourist Dennis Tito on a Russian Soyuz tax mission, which NASA and other partners had attempted to block. In contrast, there has been no opposition to the upcoming flight of South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, who has spent this week training at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Related Links:

•  ISS Crew Criteria Document (PDF format)
•  SPACE.com article