World's First Clown Astronaut Blasts Off into Space

It just begs a million jokes, but it's the God's honest truth. Earlier today, Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte, founder of the world-famous Montreal-based Cirque de Soleil, became Canada's first space tourist, and the world's first clown astronaut, when he blasted off this morning aboard the Russian SOYUZ TMA-16 spacecraft. The launch, which took place at 7:14 AM GMT at the Bikonaur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, went very smoothly according to the Russian launch team. Accompanying him on the mission are US astronaut Jeffrey Williams, 51, and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev, 37. Mr. Laliberte, 50, the former fire breather and stilt-walker from Quebec City, owns a 95 per cent stake in Cirque de Soleil. His personal net worth is estimated at $2.5B. Mr. Laliberte paid $35 million for the privilege of joining the mission, and plans to use the publicity from his trip to draw attention to the importance of access to clean water on Earth. "This is the time, and the purpose is clear: to raise awareness on water issues to humankind on planet earth," Guy the Clown said, in a rare serious moment for the famed circus performer. Though Mr. Laliberte is the seventh space tourist to be launched into orbit aboard Russian spacecraft, he may well be the last. As CTV Toronto reports, the American government is planning to retire the shuttle program and will be sending US astronauts aboard future Russian space missions. Yet despite the fact that Mr. Laliberte may be the only clown ever to see real stars up close (as opposed to those induced by large foam hammers), his presence aboard SOYUZ is the realization of the generations-old dreams of his progenitors Major Mudd and Bozo.

NASA Soyuz. image:5575:2::0

After the launch, Guy gave two thumbs-up to an in-flight camera and told the Russian ground crew he was feeling "super!" Friends and family of Mr. Laliberte, who witnessed the historic launch from the ground at Bikonaur, chanted "Guy! Guy!" and sang Elton John's Rocket Man when it was announced that Guy the Clown had been successfully launched into orbit for the 12-day trip. The SOYUZ TMA-16 will dock with the International Space Station on Oct. 2. Mr. Laliberte plans to stream out a webcast during his journey, which will be carried live at www.onedrop.org on Oct. 9. Mr. Laliberte is due back on Earth on Oct. 11. The two US and Russian spacemen accompanying Mr. Laliberte will temporarily join an expanded crew of six on the ISS and will remain on board for 169 days. Mr. Laliberte will only remain in space for 12 days.