Dennis Anthony Tito (born 8 August 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.
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 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.
Through an arrangement with space tourism company Space Adventures, Ltd., Tito joined Soyuz TM-32 on 28 April 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.
Tito met immense controversy from NASA before the launch, primarily Daniel S. Goldin, NASA director from 1 April 1992 to 17 November 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 will not be able to begin training, because we are 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.
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.
Since returning from space, he has 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 24 July 2003.
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 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.
Through an arrangement with space tourism company Space Adventures, Ltd., Tito joined Soyuz TM-32 on 28 April 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.
Tito met immense controversy from NASA before the launch, primarily Daniel S. Goldin, NASA director from 1 April 1992 to 17 November 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 will not be able to begin training, because we are 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.
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.
Since returning from space, he has 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 24 July 2003.
