Veteran astronaut training for mission

(ANSA) - Milan, September 18 - Age is not as important as experience when sending humans into space, astronaut Paolo Nespoli said Friday.
    The European Space Agency (ESA) veteran is in training for his next mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2017, when he will be 60 years old.
    "Age is secondary," Nespoli said. "You have to have the physical prerequisites...but what matter most are competence and experience," said Nespoli, who began his pre-flight training four weeks ago.
    He is currently in Houston, but the drill will also take him to Moscow, Japan, and Europe. "I hope (tourist space flights) will become available soon," he added.
    "In a few years I'd like to be able to buy a ticket and go into space without having to go through all this training first".
    Nespoli is the third Italian to travel into space after Umberto Guidoni in April 2000 and Roberto Vittori in 2002.
    In 1998 he was one of two Italian astronauts to be chosen for the very first mission to the ISS.