Last year gave us the news of a madly love-struck astronaut, and this year, we'll be witnessing how taking out books outside the premises without asking permission will take something important away from you: in this case, the privilege to be the first person from your country to be sent into space. Read all about it in the full article.

Apparently, a zero-G flight isn't enough for Richard Garriott. The well-known game developer has just shelled out about US$ 30 million to become the sixth paying visitor to the International Space Station. Read more in the full article.

Want to fly out to space? If you have a cool 20 Mil on you, and you're in China, you can contact Hong Kong Space Travel for a reservation. The company is helping Space Adventures to open the upsurging Chinese Market to Space Tourism.

Hong Kong Space Travel is hooking up with Space Adventures. The started around 2001 when they booked Dennis Tito, an American tycoon, to go to the International Space Station (ISS). Since then, Russia's Federal Space Agency hooked up with Space Adventure and is in the process of sending more tourists into space.

The costs are the ones hampering most people from enjoying the trip to space. A 10 day trip to the ISS costs $20M, an 18-day ISS mission with a spacewalk is $35M. They're even planning a trip that will send two tourists fly around the side of the moon! Cost? $200M. In order to promote more people to join this tour, they're announcing that they'll be offering suborbital tours. The costs are cheaper, just about a $100K. However, they're still in the process of testing reusable launch vehicles for an hour-long space trek. Once they've chosen the launch vehicle, expect the 200 who have already reserved to go up into suborbital space.

So what's the connection with China? Space Adventures, through Hong Kong Space Travel, is planning to initiate and develop a working relationship with the China National Space Administration because of their cheaper rockets. They have a spacecraft called, Shenzhou, that has already completed two missions that may be integrated into Space Adventures's plans.

Time to save up for that suborbital flight!

Before all the Lance Basses of the world move to Moscow, the expedition is only simulated and totally earthbound. The “flight” - set to launch in the last quarter of 2007 -  will never leave the premises of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medical and Biological Research. The "ships" are actually five modules with a total space of 19,500 square feet (550 cubic meters), representing the Mars landing craft and base.

According Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) website, to make the cut, applicants must be between 25 and 50 years old. Doctors, engineers, biologist or computation instrument specialist gets extra points during the selection process. Unfortunately, being a former member of a boy band gets zero extra points. The announcement didn't specify the gender mix of five "winners."

The "Marsanauts" will spend 520 days with an option of extending it to 700 days. The trip to the red planet will take 250 days, one way. Throughout the mission, the crew would be communicating with 'mission control' via e-mail and video links for communications within the ship and with the landing module.

The pretend crew will have a five-day working week with weekends off and will be exposed to stress tests in the form of various simulated emergencies including onsite malfunctioning of equipment and systems. The simulation will study the effect of deep space mission on the crew’s health , test remote diagnosis and treatment via video-links, and organize crew activities and work to prevent any negative impacts prolonged spaceflight would have on human health.

One more thing, neither smoking nor alcohol will be allowed so Big Brother veterans need not apply.