KAZAKHSTAN (voa) – South Africa’s space tourist has landed back on Earth after a 10-day trip to the international space station in orbit.
Russian space officials say a Soyuz capsule carrying Mark Shuttleworth, Russian flight commander Yuri Gidzenko and Italian engineer Roberto Vittori landed safely in Kazakhstan (near the town of Arkalyk) at 0350 Universal Time.
The Soyuz capsule’s descent from orbit took a little more than three hours. Now back on Earth, the trio of space travelers will have a medical check-up, then spend a few days in Russia’s Star City to recuperate from their journey.
Mr. Shuttleworth, the first African ever in space, is the second tourist to travel to the space station, after American businessman Dennis Tito made the trip last year.
The 28-year-old Mr. Shuttleworth, a wealthy Internet entrepreneur, paid $20 million for his trip. He also has purchased the Soyuz capsule and his spacesuit as souvenirs of his adventure.
Mark Richard Shuttleworth, Soyuz 4 Taxi Flight Crew Member
Personal Data: Mark was born on 18 September 1973 in mining town Welkom, in South Africa’s Free State province. His parents, Rick and Ronelle later moved to Cape Town, where Mark grew up. They still live in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, where Rick works as a surgeon. Mark has a deep interest in Information Technology and the Internet and spends much of his time browsing the ‘Net and playing games. He has always had an interest space and science fiction.
Education: Mark attended Bishops High School in Cape Town, graduating in 1991. He received a Bachelors degree in Business Science in 1996 from the University of Cape Town.
Early Career: Mark began his own business, Thawte Consulting, in 1996, consulting to a number of businesses in Cape Town. The company later narrowed its focus on Internet security issues. Thawte was the first company to produce a full security web server using Public Key Infrastructure that was available globally. By the time that VeriSign bought Thawte in 2000, his company was the leading Certification Authority outside of the USA.
Current Interests: Mark is sole investor and director of a venture capital firm (HBD Venture Capital) in South Africa. He also founded a non-profit foundation (The Shuttleworth Foundation) that focuses on supporting innovation in South African education. He also serves on the board of bridges.org, an organisation seeking to address issues relating to the ‘digital divide.’ Mark has also been involved in the establishment of the Cape Information Technology Initiative (CITI).
