Las Vegas Weekly

September 30, 2009 · 2:04 PM

Photo Gallery: Cirque du Soleil founder blasts off for $35 million

By Robin Leach

Guy Laliberte.

Photo: One Drop

Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, has had a dream since childhood that he would one day be an astronaut. That dream came true this morning for the 50-year-old creator of our six Cirque shows on the Strip when he blasted off into space on a Russian Soyuz capsule from the launch facility Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Guy paid $35 million for the flight, which will arrive this Friday at the International Space Station orbiting 220 miles above Earth. He had spent 187 days in training for the mission and is only the fifth non-trained astronaut to make the journey.

The Canadian circus tycoon also will be the last private space tourist for the next five years! His two crewmates are NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Russian Space Agency astronaut Maxim Surayev.

Watch Guy via YouTube describing today’s space mission:

Guy, who has dubbed himself the first clown in space, wore a red circus nose and blew kisses to supporters and Cirque executives before he moved out to the launch pad. He said his official au revoir from behind a glass wall to his live-in partner, former model Claudia Barilla, and other familiar Las Vegas faces on Sunday.

Guy says he’s managed to pack other Cirque clown noses to give to all the crew up in space to wear on one of their telecasts. NASA TV this morning had a mission control officer announce that the astronauts were in excellent spirits and were safely in orbit after the blastoff. Before you ask the question, only Jeffrey and Maxim are at the controls after 12 years of training, although Guy has been given courses in all other aspects of the expedition and its safety and living procedures.

You can follow Guy’s space adventure on NASA TV. The major goal of Guy centers on the live two-hour global event that he will emcee from outer space. Matthew McConaughey, Salma Hayek, Joss Stone, Shakira, Peter Gabriel and Al Gore will join international stars in Montreal, Moscow, Santa Monica, New York, Johannesburg, Osaka, Mumbai, Paris, London, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney and Orlando. Their goal for Guy’s One Drop Foundation is to raise awareness of the humanitarian struggles and solutions associated with the world’s decreasing supplies of water.

It is the first time that a global telecast of this size and scope is being undertaken -- and with the emcee in space! The Cirque spectacular is set for 5 p.m. on Oct. 9 and can be seen here on Direct TV’s 101 network and via OneDrop.org.

I’ve been told that computer screens and closed circuit TV carrying Russia Today news programs will be available for all the performers and executives backstage at all the Cirque shows along the Strip for the next 12 days.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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