KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: For Dennis Tito, day one gets a rave review. High above the Earth, Tito is enjoying the first of his six days at the International Space Station, despite the controversy over his visit. Matthew chance reports on the first space tourist.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scenes of happiness and some relief at the International Space Station. After nine months of intensive physical and mental training in the Russian space program and $20 million of his own cash, Dennis Tito has become the space station's first paying guest, realizing a lifetime's dream. And in the minutes after the hatches opened, there was word from the man himself.</s>DENNIS TITO, SPACE TOURIST: It was a great trip here, and I don't know about this adaptation that they talk about. I'm already adapted, so I love space.</s>CHANCE: Despite misgivings by NASA that the first space tourist might be a safety risk, his journey aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft has gone uninterrupted and according to plan. NASA only dropped its objections in the days before the launch after Dennis Tito signed agreements not to sue in the event of injury and to pay for any sensitive equipment that he should break. But Russian space officials say their paying guest will have no role in the day-to-day operations of the International Space Station. Instead, he'll spend his six days on board listening to music and taking photographs before returning to Earth. If all continues to go according to plan, back here on Earth, there could be a surge of interest in space tourism. Already officials at the Russian space agency say they are negotiating with a number of individuals about a second privately- funded trip into space, and although there may be further objections from NASA, this pioneering visit may prove the first of many to come. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
Dennis Tito Enjoys First Day of Space Vacation