NASA: No Space for Bass
A week after Russia's space agency said it was scrapping the 'N Syncer's quest to become the youngest space ace, bouncing him from cosmonaut school for failing to pay for his $20 million ticket, NASA officials announced Monday that they've received written notice from the Russians confirming as much.
"The letter speaks for itself," NASA spokeswoman Debra Rahn told the Associated Press. "They've officially withdrawn Mr. Bass from the flight."
The letter was signed and faxed by M.V. Sinelshchikov, Russia's director of human space flight for Rosaviakosmos, to Frederick Gregory, NASA's deputy administrator and chairman of the board charged with supervising Bass' space flight.
NASA officials then forwarded word on to space agencies in Japan and Europe informing them of the Russian decision to jettison the 'N Syncer.
Bass was slated to blast off October 28 from Kazakhstan, Russia, on a Soyuz rocket .
"We appreciated his education outreach activities while he was there," Rahn added. "It was a business decision in which NASA had no part."
Bass' spokeswoman, Jill Fritzo, says the singer is still in Russia and has no comment.
Last week, Bass and Destiny Productions, his Hollywood producing partners who planned to turn the trip into a TV show, were still optimistic they could to scrape together the funds, despite missing numerous ultimatums.
Bass was vying to become the third civilian in space. He would also be the first pop star and, at 23, the youngest astronaut. He took his goal seriously, signing a preliminary contract in July and moving to Russia's Star City, where he took crash courses on physics, space-flight theory and survival skills, all while trying to master the Russian langauge.
Late last month, Bass accompanied the mission's two cosmonauts for a week of training at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
At the time, a giddy Bass told reporters during a press conference that he was excited about the chance to inspire kids to reach for the stars and said he planned to sing in space.
He also appeared unruffled by the money issues. If things didn't pan out, he said he would "work [his] butt off trying to go for another mission."
The Russians have already decided on a replacement for the singer: a cargo container filled with gear for the International Space Station and weighing about the same as Bass.
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