Clown is First Canadian Space Tourist, Blasts Off Today

Laliberte, a Russian cosmonaut and an American astronaut blasted off into space early Wednesday aboard a Soyuz spacecraft headed for the International Space Station. Laliberte's stint as Canada's first space tourist on the space station will be just the latest milestone in a life where adventure has been anything but alien.

Among other things Laliberte plans to do in space is to tickle the crew while they’re asleep.

"He is an amazing entrepreneur and he's the one who will always provoke people to go to their limits. I think this trip he's doing is a good illustration of that. Not only is he pushing himself to his limits but he's also pushing his team to do what they're doing right now, which is to try the crazy idea of having a show coming from the space station."

Laliberte, who is the father of five children and is engaged to be married to his current fiancee, was born in Quebec City and started out as a teenage fire-eater. He's also been a stilt walker, a musician and a magician.

But it was the magic he worked with a rag-tag bunch of street performers from the Quebec hamlet of Baie-St-Paul to create the Cirque du soleil in 1984 that got him noticed in a really big way.

Billionaire Laliberte’s costly “vacation” also has an element of charity to it. He wants to raise awareness about the problem of access to clean water in the world.

...His poetic message from space will be broadcast live around the globe in a live TV show on October 9. The show brings together prominent politicians and artists like Al Gore, Peter Gabriel, Shakira, Salma Hayek, U2 and the Cirque du Soleil. It is aimed at raising awareness about equal access to clean water.

Years of sustained pressure from community members, farmers, First Nations and concerned social justice organizations such as the Council of Canadians led municipal councillors in Simcoe County, Ontario to scrap plans for a landfill known as Dump Site 41 last week.