Sarah Brightman’s Off To Space! Wait, What?

You may remember the soprano from many West End and Broadway shows including Phantom of the Opera. And now she’s heading to the International Space Station on September 1st. Some are asking where she got the 34 million pounds (about $65 million CDN). Doubting very much it’s former husband Andrew Lloyd Webber.

That’s why, back in July 2012, Sarah travelled from her home near Los Angeles to Houston, where Nasa subjected the singer to the most rigorous medical checks to see whether she could make it as a cosmonaut. Turns out she could.

‘The doctor, who has worked with a lot of astronauts, was saying: “I don’t believe this: even on the brain scans you’re coming out perfect,” ’ Brightman said.
The singer’s next port-of-call was the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, near Moscow, where she was evaluated on a whole range of simulators.
Perhaps the most gruelling was the centrifuge — a giant arm-like structure that whisks its poor occupants around at something approaching 200mph, simulating the massive g‑forces that astronauts are subjected to when they sit on top of a rocket hurtling into space.
Apparently, Brightman remained calm, with her pulse barely increasing. Other tests included being strapped to rotating chairs, and a psychological evaluation.

More details can be found here.