Russians Officially End Bass' Space Hopes

Letter To NASA Shuts Door

The Russians will still be blasting off for the International Space Station Oct. 28, but *NSYNC singer Lance Bass will not be with them.

That's the official word from the Russian Aerospace Agency, which put the permanent kibosh on Bass' proposed trip with them on their next Soyuz rocket mission.

According to The Associated Press, the agency sent NASA officials a letter notifying them that Bass for sure will not take part in the trip.

NASA, along with other agencies in the International Space Station coalition, approved Bass fit for flight at the end of August.

However, Russia said it couldn't wait any longer for Bass' sponsors to raise the estimated $20 million fare for the trip.

Bass first made it public in February that he wanted to take part in the trip, but the actual preliminary deal wasn't inked with the Russians until late July.

The Russians had initially threatened to pull the plug on the trip in late August if a payment wasn't made. They asked Bass to leave the cosmonaut training center outside Moscow Sept. 3 after that deadline was missed.

Bass, 23, would have been the youngest person to become a "space tourist."

According to the AP, Bass said last week that he would keep pursuing the trip if the current one fell through.

Bass first made it public in February that he wanted to take part in the trip, but the actual preliminary deal wasn't inked with the Russians until late July.

Previous Stories:

• Sept. 4, 2002: Nugent To Bass: 'Embrace Life; Kill Own Food'
• Sept. 3, 2002: Russians Ask Bass To Leave Space Program
• Aug. 27, 2002: NASA, Agencies Approve Bass Space Flight
• Aug. 19, 2002: Russians To Bass: Pay Up By Friday
• Aug. 7, 2002: Missed Payment Puts Bass' Space Trip In Jeopardy
• July 23, 2002: Singer Inks Preliminary Deal For Space Flight
• July 16, 2002: Bass Listed As Russian Space Member
• July 9, 2002: *NSYNC's Bass Talking Space Flight With Russians
• May 31, 2002: Singer Says He's Fit For Space Travel
• May 29, 2002: Russians Deny Singer Space Flight
• Feb. 23, 2002: *NSYNC Singer Going On Russian Space Flight?

Copyright 2002 by Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.