Wannabe space hero eying low-budget flight
By Wang Zhuoqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-21 05:44

The company is even offering a free seat for a sub-orbital adventure at an unspecified time but Chinese people seem content to watch the heroes of the country's latest manned mission, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, on television Jiang said no one had booked a trip.

Yesterday's press conference shed a little more light on the man whom the media reported in February would be China's first space tourist.

The only information available then was that the man was surnamed Jiang; he was from Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province; and had applied for a space trip.

Eager journalists were, understandably, keen to find out more about the man but there was little forthcoming.

Jiang would only reveal that he was in 30s and involved in electronics manufacturing. He spoke with a strong southern accent and needed an interpreter to speak to his business partners or reply to reporters.

"My personal details are not relevant to the space flight," was his response when asked to reveal more about himself.

John Moltzan, Space Adventures' director of business development, who met Jiang in February, described him as a "very nice man and a good entrepreneur with a great passion for space travel."