Many long for Tito's excellent adventure

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- As the world's first paying space tourist orbits the globe in the international space station, observers wonder if Dennis Tito's excellent adventure will be the first of many to come.

VIDEO CNN's Anne McDermott reports that Dennis Tito probably won't be the last space tourist (May 3) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Although Tito is the first to pay his own way onto a spacecraft, the idea of buying a ticket to be shot into space isn't new. The first NASA moon landing in 1969 prompted Pan Am airlines to begin booking flights to the lunar surface. But the plan didn't fly.

Until commercial space flight becomes commonplace, astronaut wannabes will have to satisfy their longings with tales of the imagination, as CNN's Anne McDermott reports.

Space tourist visits U.S. turf on orbiting outpost
May 2, 2001

NASA

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