Everything about Dennis Tito totally explained
Dennis Anthony Tito (born
August 8,
1940 in
Queens,
New York) is a
United States multimillionaire who gained celebrity status by becoming the first
space tourist to pay for his own ticket, although he himself opposes being called "tourist" and asks to be called an "independent researcher" since he performed several scientific experiments in orbit.
Career
Tito has a Bachelor of Science in Astronautics and
Aeronautics from
New York University,
1962 and a Master of Science in Engineering Science from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute satellite campus in Hartford, Connecticut. He is a member of
Psi Upsilon and received an honorary doctorate of engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on
18 May,
2002 and is a former scientist of the
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1972, he founded
Wilshire Associates, a leading provider of investment management, consulting and technology services in
Santa Monica,
California. Tito serves an international clientèle representing assets of $12.5 trillion. Wilshire relies on the field of
quantitative analytics, which uses mathematical tools to analyze market risks - a methodology Tito is credited with helping to develop by applying the same techniques he used to determine a spacecraft's path at JPL. Despite a career change from
aerospace engineering to
investment management, Tito never lost his interest in, and commitment to,
space exploration.
Tito was appointed to the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Board of Commissioners in the 1990s and led the board to support the landmark 1994 state ruling protecting
Mono Lake from excessive water diversions by the city.
Space flight
In a project first arranged by the pioneering company
MirCorp Tito was accepted by the Russian Space Agency as a candidate. Later, When the Mir was de-orbited, through an arrangement with space tourism company Space Adventures, Ltd., Tito joined
Soyuz TM-32 on
April 28,
2001, spending 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in space and orbited Earth 128 times. Tito performed several scientific experiments in orbit that he said would be useful for his company and business. Tito paid a reported $20 million for his trip, although close friends suggest it was much less, as low as $12 million.
Since returning from space, he's testified at the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space and the House Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics Joint Hearing on "Commercial Human Spaceflight" on
July 24,
2003.
Controversy
Tito met immense controversy from NASA before the launch, primarily Daniel S. Goldin,
NASA director from
April 1,
1992 to
November 17,
2001, who considered him "un-American" for using the Russian Soyuz as his ticket to space. When Tito arrived at the
Johnson Space Center for additional training on the American sections of the ISS, Robert Cabana,
NASA manager, sent Tito and his two fellow cosmonauts home, stating "...We won't be able to begin training, because we're not willing to train with Dennis Tito." Although attacks against his trip were spearheaded by NASA executives, his trip was widely supported by
NASA astronauts, civilians, and media both in the
United States of America and
Russia.
Further Information
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