Editing International Space Station (section)

===Private flights===
{{see also|Space tourism}}

Travellers who pay for their own passage into space are termed [[spaceflight participant]]s by Roscosmos and NASA, and are sometimes referred to as "space tourists", a term they generally dislike.{{efn|Privately funded travellers who have objected to the term include Dennis Tito, the first such traveller,<ref>Associated Press, 8 May 2001</ref> [[Mark Shuttleworth]], founder of [[Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu]],<ref>Associated Press, ''The Spokesman Review'', 6 January 2002, p. A4</ref> Gregory Olsen and [[Richard Garriott]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schwartz|first=John|date=10 October 2008|title=Russia Leads Way in Space Tourism With Paid Trips into Orbit|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/science/space/11space.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722130339/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/science/space/11space.html|archive-date=22 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="nbc-20050913">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9323509|title=Space passenger Olsen to pull his own weight|last=Boyle|first=Alan|date=13 September 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812203905/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9323509|archive-date=12 August 2023|publisher=[[NBC News]]}}</ref> Canadian astronaut [[Bob Thirsk]] said the term does not seem appropriate, referring to his crewmate, [[Guy Laliberté]], founder of [[Cirque du Soleil]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Flight to space ignited dreams &#124; St. Catharines Standard|url=http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1975186&archive=true|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912062200/http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1975186&archive=true|archive-date=12 September 2012|access-date=1 May 2012|publisher=Stcatharinesstandard.ca}}</ref> Anousheh Ansari denied being a tourist<ref name="esa-notatourist">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Applications/Technology_Transfer/I_am_NOT_a_tourist|title=I am NOT a tourist|date=16 February 2007|publisher=[[European Space Agency]]|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126165131/https://www.esa.int/Applications/Technology_Transfer/I_am_NOT_a_tourist|archive-date=26 November 2023}}</ref> and took offence at the term.<ref name="spacecom-20060915">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/2889-interview-anousheh-ansari-female-space-tourist.html|title=Interview with Anousheh Ansari, the First Female Space Tourist|last=Goudarzi|first=Sara|date=15 September 2006|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811174719/https://www.space.com/2889-interview-anousheh-ansari-female-space-tourist.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=[[Space.com]]}}</ref>}} {{As of|2023|06}}, thirteen space tourists have visited the ISS; nine were transported to the ISS on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and four were transported on American [[SpaceX Dragon 2]] spacecraft. For one-tourist missions, when professional crews change over in numbers not divisible by the three seats in a Soyuz, and a short-stay crewmember is not sent, the spare seat is sold by MirCorp through Space Adventures. Space tourism was halted in 2011 when the Space Shuttle was retired and the station's crew size was reduced to six, as the partners relied on Russian transport seats for access to the station. Soyuz flight schedules increased after 2013, allowing five Soyuz flights (15 seats) with only two expeditions (12 seats) required.<ref name="sfn-20110112">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1101/12soyuz/|title=Resumption of Soyuz tourist flights announced|last=Harwood|first=William|date=12 January 2011|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131351/https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1101/12soyuz/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for [[CBS News]]}}</ref> The remaining seats were to be sold for around US$40&nbsp;million each to members of the public who could pass a medical exam. ESA and NASA criticised private spaceflight at the beginning of the ISS, and NASA initially resisted training [[Dennis Tito]], the first person to pay for his own passage to the ISS.{{efn|ESA director Jörg Feustel-Büechl said in 2001 that Russia had no right to send 'amateurs' to the ISS. A 'stand-off' occurred at the Johnson Space Center between Commander [[Talgat Musabayev]] and NASA manager [[Robert Cabana]] who refused to train Dennis Tito, a member of Musabayev's crew along with [[Yuri Baturin]]. Musabayev argued that Tito had trained 700 hours in the last year and was as qualified as any NASA astronaut, and refused to allow his crew to be trained on the USOS without Tito. Cabana would not allow training to begin, and the commander returned with his crew to their hotel.}} <!--<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bridges|first=Andrew|date=1 November 2011|title=The ISS won't be hosting paying guests anytime soon – at least not as far as NASA is concerned.|url=http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/mir_tour_iss_001101.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002185427/http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/mir_tour_iss_001101.html|archive-date=2 October 2009|access-date=26 January 2012|website=Space.com}}</ref>-->

[[Anousheh Ansari]] became the first self-funded woman to fly to the ISS as well as the first Iranian in space. Officials reported that her education and experience made her much more than a tourist, and her performance in training had been "excellent."<ref name="rfe-20060915">{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1071358.html|title=U.S.: Iranian-American To Be First Female Civilian in Space|last=Maher|first=Heather|date=15 September 2006|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906105719/https://www.rferl.org/a/1071358.html|archive-date=6 September 2023}}</ref> She did Russian and European studies involving medicine and microbiology during her 10-day stay. The 2009 documentary ''[[Space Tourists]]'' follows her journey to the station, where she fulfilled "an age-old dream of man: to leave our planet as a 'normal person' and travel into outer space."<ref name="space-tourists-film">{{Cite web|title=Space Tourists – A Film By Christian Frei|url=http://www.space-tourists-film.com/en/film_synopsis.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130847/http://www.space-tourists-film.com/en/film_synopsis.php|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=1 May 2012|publisher=Space-tourists-film.com}}</ref>

In 2008, spaceflight participant [[Richard Garriott]] placed a [[geocache]] aboard the ISS during his flight.<ref>{{cite web|title=Geocaching – The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site|url=http://www.geocaching.com/|website=geocaching.com|access-date=27 February 2013|archive-date=2 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202192741/http://www.geocaching.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> This is the first non-terrestrial geocache in history.<ref name="geekwire-20110829">{{Cite news|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2011/outer-space-ocean-floor-15m-geocaches-counting/|title=From outer space to the ocean floor, Geocaching.com now boasts more than 1.5 million hidden treasures|last=Cook|first=John|date=29 August 2011|access-date=27 February 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163646/https://www.geekwire.com/2011/outer-space-ocean-floor-15m-geocaches-counting/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=Geekwire.com}}</ref> At the same time, the [[Immortality Drive]], an electronic record of eight digitised human [[DNA sequences]], was placed aboard the ISS.<ref name="abc-20081012">{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6016448|title=American game designer follows father into orbit|date=12 October 2008|access-date=16 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130752/https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6016448|archive-date=10 August 2023|publisher=ABC News|location=United States}}</ref>

After a 12-year hiatus, the first two wholly space tourism-dedicated private spaceflights to the ISS were undertaken. [[Soyuz MS-20]] launched in December 2021, carrying visiting Roscosmos cosmonaut [[Alexander Misurkin]] and two Japanese space tourists under the aegis of the private company [[Space Adventures]];<ref name="space adventures">{{Cite web|url=https://spaceadventures.com/experiences/space-station/|title=Space Station Experience|last=Jefferson|first=Mark|date=9 January 2018|publisher=[[Space Adventures]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925164032/http://www.spaceadventures.com:80/experiences/space-station|archive-date=25 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="tass20200219">{{Cite news|url=https://tass.com/science/1045321|title=Roscosmos signs new contract on flight of two space tourists to ISS|date=19 February 2019|agency=[[TASS]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132826/https://tass.com/science/1045321|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> in April 2022, the company [[Axiom Space]] chartered a [[SpaceX Dragon 2]] spacecraft and sent its own employee astronaut [[Michael Lopez-Alegria]] and three space tourists to the ISS for [[Axiom Mission 1]],<ref name="teslarati-1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-space-tourism-first-crew-dragon-contract/|title=SpaceX space tourism ambitions made real with Crew Dragon's first private contract|last=Ralph|first=Eric|date=9 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131652/https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-space-tourism-first-crew-dragon-contract/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Teslarati}}</ref><ref name="axiom-first-private">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/post/axiom-space-plans-first-ever-fully-private-human-spaceflight-mission-to-international-space-station|title=Axiom Space plans first-ever fully private human spaceflight mission to International Space Station|date=5 March 2020|publisher=[[Axiom Space]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812223849/https://www.axiomspace.com/news/axiom-space-plans-first-ever-fully-private-human-spaceflight-mission-to-international-space-station|archive-date=12 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="ax1overview">{{Cite web|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax1|title=Meet Ax-1, The Beginning of a New Era|publisher=[[Axiom Space]]|access-date=18 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124155314/https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax1|archive-date=24 November 2023}}</ref> followed in May 2023 by one more tourist, [[John Shoffner]], alongside employee astronaut [[Peggy Whitson]] and two Saudi astronauts for the [[Axiom Mission 2]].<ref name="Sheetz 2021">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/axiom-space-expands-spacex-deal-for-private-crew-launches-to-iss-.html|title=Axiom Space expands SpaceX private crew launch deal, with four total missions to the space station|last=Sheetz|first=Michael|date=2 June 2021|access-date=2 August 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529151534/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/axiom-space-expands-spacex-deal-for-private-crew-launches-to-iss-.html|archive-date=29 May 2023|publisher=[[CNBC]]}}</ref><ref name="Ax-2 Overview">{{Cite web|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax2|title=Ax-2: The second private mission to the International Space Station|publisher=[[Axiom Space]]|access-date=18 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124155431/https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax2|archive-date=24 November 2023}}</ref>