Singer Sarah Brightman Will Ride Russian Rocket to Space

British soprano singer Sarah Brightman has announced her plan to ride a Russian rocket into space for a 10-day visit to the International Space Station.

Brightman made her announcement today (Oct. 10) from Moscow during a press conference with Roscosmos (the Russian Federal Space Agency) and Space Adventures, the Virginia firm that brokered the deal.

"Throughout most of my life I've felt an incredible desire to take the journey to space that I have now begun," Brightman said. "A journey into space is the greatest adventure I can imagine."

The singer will be the eighth private citizen to pay her way to space. The last space tourist, Canadian Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, flew to orbit in 2009 for about $35 million. Space Adventures is not releasing the cost of Brightman's ticket, but it is almost certainly more than Laliberte's. [Photos: The First Space Tourists]

"The price of the flight is confidential, but it is a roundtrip ticket," said Eric Anderson, chairman of Space Adventures.

Brightman, who rose to fame starring in the original Broadway production of "Phantom of the Opera," said space has influenced her from a young age.

"My music has always been inspired by space," Brightman said. "It was because of seeing the first man on the moon back in the '60s that actually inspired me and gave me the courage to go into the career that I had. At moments when I'm feeling nervous onstage or I'm feeling unsure I actually look to the stars and the planets and space and it gives me courage and inspiration."

Brightman will begin a six-month cosmonaut training regime in Star City, Russia, after she completes a year-long world tour for her new album, "Dream Chaser," starting in January.

"This past July, Ms. Brightman completed and passed all of the required medical and physical evaluations; she's fit and mentally prepared for our spaceflight training program," Alexey Krasnov, head of Roscosmos' Piloted Programs Department, said in a statement. "We will work closely with Space Adventures in supporting Ms. Brightman's spaceflight candidacy."

She will be part of a three-person crew launching on a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan sometime after that. She will spend 10 days aboard the space station, which orbits Earth from 240 miles (386 km) overhead.

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Singer Sarah Brightman Will Ride Russian Rocket to Space