Would-be Japanese space tourist wants his $21-million fee returned

Canoe Weird News

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Japanese millionaire Daisuke Enomoto had planned to dress up as his favourite cartoon character in outer space and spent $21 million to make it happen.

Now, however, he claims the company that was supposed make his dream come true brushed him aside with little more than a "sorry, no refunds." A federal judge has now heard arguments in Enomoto's lawsuit against Virginia-based Space Adventures.

It's a firm that made its name brokering deals with the Russian space agency to put half a dozen space tourists in orbit for fees of $20 million or more.

Space Adventures wants the lawsuit thrown out, saying that Enomoto was disqualified because of a chronic kidney-stone condition.

They say his money is non-refundable.

Enomoto claims the kidney stones were an excuse and that he wasn't allowed to launch in part because he refused Space Adventures' demands for more money.

Enomoto, an eccentric entrepreneur who planned to dress up as anime character Char Aznable, had plans to be the first tourist to do a spacewalk.

He spent most of eight months at the Star City training facility near Moscow in 2006 preparing for his flight.

But as disputes arose over how much money Enomoto owed, he was medically disqualified because of his kidney-stone condition.

He was replaced by Anousheh Ansari, who became the world's first female space tourist.
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