* Astronomy

Sonja Rohde refuses to abandon her space-faring plans. Although this summer during tests a massive explosion caused the death of three people Ms. Rohde remains determined to be the first female German tourist to fly into space. "It would be naïve to believe that something like 100% safety exists," she told the German edition of Technology Review in an interview, published in the 11/07 edition of the magazine (which can be ordered online and has been available at newsstands since October 25).
In 2009 Ms. Rohde, who is 31 and the daughter of the head of a real estate company in the German city of Hagen, wants to realize her life's dream and be the first German to take a short trip into space with the private rocket glider SpaceShip Two. The price tag of the space trip is about 220,000 US dollars. However, this July a massive explosion that occurred during tests of the propulsion system of the spacecraft caused the death of three people.

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