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KOROLYOV, Russia - US space tourist Charles Simonyi has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) with a hamper of gourmet food to spice up his fellow cosmonauts' space-food diet.
The capsule carrying Simonyi -- who paid US$25 million for his trip into orbit -- and two Russian cosmonauts docked with the ISS two days after they lifted off from a Russian launch pad in the Central Asian steppe.
Applause rang out at the Russian mission control centre outside Moscow as live monitors showed the capsule with the three men on board manoeuvring into position and then locking on to one of the station's ports.
"We are very happy to have reached the ... moment of docking," said Alexei Krasnov, head of piloted flight with Russia's space agency Roskosmos.
He said of Simonyi, the world's fifth space tourist: "It is very nice to see a person who has fulfilled his long-standing dream."
Simonyi and cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov will have to wait about an hour in their cramped Soyuz capsule while safety checks are carried out before floating through airlocks into the space station.
Once inside they will be greeted by the station's residents for the past six months: Nasa astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurkin.
Simonyi was born in Hungary and emigrated to the United States where he joined Microsoft when it was a start-up company. He helped develop some of the company's flagship programmes including Word and Excel and now runs his own company.
The gourmet food parcel was put together by Simonyi's friend US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, who saw him off from the launch-pad in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan.
Some media have reported the two are romantically linked, and there had been speculation the software mogul would propose to her before lift-off.
The menu -- an exotic contrast to the usual space station fare -- includes quail roasted in wine, duck breast with capers and rice pudding. The food is stored in an aluminium container. Russian space officials said Simonyi planned to share the meal with his colleagues on April 12, which is Russian Cosmonaut's Day.
Simonyi will fly back to earth with outgoing crew members Lopez-Alegria and Tyurkin. Their capsule will take four hours to fall to earth and is expected to touch down in the Kazakh steppe on April 20.
Flight Engineer Williams will remain on board for the first part of the next expedition, while Kotov and Yurchikhin will remain in space until autumn.
- REUTERS
