The day the first tourist went to space – level 1

28-04-2001

When Dennis Tito is a boy, he likes to watch the night sky. He dreams about his journey up there. This dream is a reason why he studies engineering. He also works for NASA for five years. Then he wants to do something new.

He starts to work in the investment market. He is so good that he has $200 million in his bank. He still dreams about his journey to the stars. Now, he has money to go to space.

Tito speaks to the Russian space agency. The agency needs money. Tito has a lot of money. They make a contract. Tito pays twenty million dollars. He can go to space for one week.

He must do a long training before his journey to space. The training is 8 months long. He must also learn Russian.

It is April 28, 2001. Tito goes to the ISS. He is the first space tourist in the world. Tito stays in space for 7 days. He goes around the Earth 128 times. He then lands in Kazakhstan.

Difficult words: journey (a way, a trip), engineering (the work when people make machines), investment market (a market in which people put money), space (the area outside the Earth), ISS (the International Space Station), land (to fly down to the ground).

What inspired Dennis Tito to become a space tourist?

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