MOSCOW A maverick U.S. businessman who has paid Russia $20 million to become the first tourist in space flew to the Baikonur cosmodrome Monday to try on his spacesuit ahead of blastoff later this month.

Dennis Tito "will go to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 28," a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency told AFP, adding "this decision was taken long ago and there is no longer a serious disagreement with NASA."

The space agency's Chief Yury Koptev said last week that the final decision on Tito's controversial space shot will be taken during a teleconference with NASA Head Dan Goldin on Tuesday.

Washington opposes the flight because it argues that Tito, a 60-year-old former space engineer, would not be able to handle the kind of emergencies possible on such a mission.

But noting that Tito had passed a rigorous medical examination and received comprehensive training, Koptev insisted Russia would stand by its commitment to allow him to go into space.

Tito is due to blast off aboard a Soyuz TM spaceship, accompanied by Russian cosmonauts Talgat Musabayev and Yury Baturin, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 28.

During their preliminary trip to Baikonur on Monday, the three astronauts also tried out the seats in the Soyuz spaceship which, like the spacesuits, have been custom-built to fit them.

Tito and his colleagues were due to return to Star City, just outside Moscow, on Tuesday to complete the final preparations for their flight. CAPTIONS:

Dennis Tito practices weightlessness on a flight in a Russian plane designed for this purpose.

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