Guy Laliberté - Space Tourist & Rocket Man

Okay, Now I'm a tad bit jealous! I'm a bit late but today I learned that Guy Laliberte', the Canadian billionaire, is now the first clown in space! I say that jokingly of course. Some of you know that Mr. Laliberte' (notice the Mr., a sign of respect) was a former stiltwalker and fire-eater before he founded and became chief executive officer of Cirque du Soleil.

Well, he's now filled in one more square on his long but shrinking "To Do" list. And he's probably purchased himself one of the finest birthday gifts ever!

Imagine buying yourself a trip to the International Space Station to celebrate your 50 th B-Day.


Guy Laliberté will spend about 9 days at the International Space Station (ISS) on his little space vacation. It's not official how much Laliberté paid for his mission but the last space tourist, US software pioneer Charles Simonyi, paid $35 million (£22 million) and that seems to be about the going rate.



The Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Laliberte is the first Canadian civilian to enter orbit. He is travelling with Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev and American astronaut Jeffrey Williams. Laliberte' has scheduled a global broadcast from the space station on Oct. 9 to raise awareness about the world's dwindling clean water supply. Laliberte plans to return to Earth on Oct. 11, while Williams and Surayev will live on the station for nearly six months.

Guy Laliberté

Here's to you Rocket Man! Happy Birthday!

You Rock!