Japanese tycoon takes off for International Space Station
MOSCOW (AP) — A Japanese billionaire and his producer have rocketed to space for a 12-day mission at the International Space Station. Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and producer Yozo Hirano, who plans to film his mission, blasted off Wednesday for the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. The trio lifted off as scheduled at 12:38 p.m. (0738 GMT) aboard Soyuz MS-20 from the Russia-leaded Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. Maezawa and Hirano are scheduled to spend 12 days in space. The two are thought to be the first self-paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009. The price of the trip hasn’t been disclosed.