Dennis Tito

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". Tito has a Bachelor of Science in Astronautics and Aeronautics from New York University, 1962 and he later received a Master of Science in Engineering Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. He 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 clientele 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 joined Soyuz TM-32 on April 28th, 2001, spending 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in orbit, and docked with the ISS. Tito paid States dollar|$" target="_blank" >^*20 million for his trip.

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.

External links

Tito the spaceman BBC web site (accessed Feb. 2006)
Spacefacts biography of Dennis Tito

1940 births | Living people | American businesspeople | American astronauts | Space tourism

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