The Japanese internet tycoon who paid $21 million to become the first space tourist to walk outside the International Space Station wants his money back, damn it!In a lawsuit, Daisuke Enomoto (37) claims that Space Adventures, the private firm with connections to the Russian Federal Space Agency, "deceptively and fraudulently" induced him to pay $21 million for a 10-day orbital sojourn that never materialized. The Virginia company scuttled Enomoto's space journey to the Russian section of the station after he refused to cough up more money, according to the suit, which says Space Adventures cited his health as a "pretense" to deny him of his childhood dream of space travel.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court claims that Space Adventures repeatedly pestered the former Livedoor executive to invest, and that the company took his money without ever having permission by the Russians or the 15 other members of the International Space Station to participate in a space walk -- what the lawsuit calls "extra-vehicular activities" or EVA. The lawsuit charges that Space Adventures informed him that the Russian Federal Space Agency "approved Mr. Enomoto's EVA participation." But the space walk will cost an "extra" $10 million.
In response to the complaint, Space Adventures said that, "Even if Enomoto could prove his unlikely claim that he was somehow misled, he suffered absolutely no damage from any misstatement because, as the complaint admits, the cause of his failure to fly was medical disqualification, not lack of authority." Enomoto grew up coding his own computer games and dreaming of space. "I just wanted to go up there and chill," he said in a recent interview. As part of his space flight, he planned on dressing like one of his favorite anime characters: Char Aznable from Gundam. His planned space experiment was to put together Gundam toys under weightlessness. Y'know, I was kinda feeling like he got bilked until I read that. Gundam? Sir, I have a hard time taking your suit seriously!
Enomoto finished months of intense training at Star City, Moscow, and was ready for his September 2006 launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kasakhstan. He was to fly in a Soyuz-FG rocket and Soyus-TMA spacecraft, but a month before the flight, according to the lawsuit, he was required to undergo another physical examination. Previous tests had determined he had kidney stones, but he was cleared for travel anyway. According to his lawsuit, the results of the second tests showed "Mr. Enomoto's kidney stones to be larger and more numerous than they had appeared to be in his previous examinations." The suit added that Enomoto has never been provided "any documentary results of that examination." The lawsuit claims Space Adventures convinced the RFSA to release Enomoto, using medical issues as a pretense.
Space Adventures, which has put at least five men and women into orbit, said in court that "Enomoto is not entitled to a refund because under the contract, his payments were not refundable if he became medically disqualified." The contract says a refund is in order if Space Adventures fails to deliver a space trip. Space Adventures' attorney said, "Enomoto knew this yet he entered the contract, made his payments and accepted months of specialized training. He is not entitled to any refund and he must be held to pay for the flight he did not take. This was a risk he undertook." Wealthy businesswoman Anousheh Ansari took his place in the 2006 flight. The lawsuit claims Space Adventures booted Enomoto to acquire a "separate investment" in Space Adventures from Ansari
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