Sarah Brightman puts space on hold

Remember all that hoopla about how Sarah Brightman was heading to be the first ex-wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber in space? The dream is over, or at least on hold:

Brightman announced today (May 13) that she won't be making that trip to orbit. The U.S.-based space tourism company Space Adventures was brokering the multimillion-dollar flight for Brightman. (The terms of Brightman's deal have not been officially disclosed.)

"Ms. Brightman said that, for personal family reasons, her intentions have had to change, and she is postponing her cosmonaut training and flight plans at this time," reads an update posted today to the English singer's website. "She would like to express her extreme gratitude to Roscosmos, Energia, GCTC (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center), Star City, NASA and all the cosmonauts and astronauts for their support during this exciting time in her life."

So we shall have to slumber on without Sarah Brightman high over our heads, for an unknown period. Be strong, fellow earthbound types. Be strong.

Sarah Brightman is actually doing this space thing

There was, a couple of years back, a bit of murmuring that Sarah Brightman was going to go into space.

She is actually going to go into space:

Itar-Tass quoted an unnamed Star City representative as saying Brightman would arrive on Wednesday and start her training the following day. The training routine typically runs for weeks. Brightman is due to be launched aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule on Sept. 1 in the company of two professional spacefliers.

It's possible that I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper was a true story. Or something.