U.S. space tourist set for blast-off

By Maria Golovnina

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - U.S. software mogul Charles Simonyi is due to blast off aboard a Russian spaceship on Saturday watched by his friend, lifestyle guru Martha Stewart.

Simonyi, 58, a billionaire founding father of Microsoft, will depart for the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Soyuz TMA-10 spaceship with Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov at 11:31 p.m. (1731 GMT).

Stewart has flown to the Soviet-era Baikonur Cosmodrome to watch Simonyi take off from the launch pad used by Yuri Gagarin in 1961 when he became the first man to travel into space.

Simonyi, the world's fifth space tourist, paid $25 million for the 12-day trip.

He is carrying a special dinner packed in an aluminium container which he will share with ISS colleagues on Russia's Cosmonauts Day on April 12.

Stewart chose the menu which features roast quail, duck breast with capers and rice pudding, among other courses. The two Americans have been romantically linked.

Yurchikhin, speaking from behind a glass pane alongside Simonyi, said with a smile about the dinner: "I would like to add the crew regards the wine sauce strictly just as sauce."

In quarantine ahead of the flight, Simonyi looked confident as he spoke to reporters on Friday.