Dennis Tito

Life and career

Tito was born in Queens, New York. He graduated from Forest Hills High School in New York City. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in astronautics and aeronautics from New York University, 1962 and a Master of Science degree in engineering science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute satellite campus in Hartford, Connecticut. He is a member of Psi Upsilon and received an honorary doctorate of engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on May 18, 2002 and is a former scientist of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Tito was appointed to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Board of Commissioners during the 1990s and as such he facilitated the 1994 state ruling protecting Mono Lake from excessive water diversions by the city.

Investment career

In 1972, he founded Wilshire Associates, a major provider of investment management, consulting and technology services in Santa Monica, California. Tito serves an international clientele representing assets of $71 billion. Wilshire uses quantitative analytics to analyze market risks – a method Tito is credited with helping to develop by applying the same techniques he used to determine a spacecraft's path at JPL. Despite a career change from aerospace engineering to investment management, Tito remained interested in space.

In 2020, Tito sold his interest in Wilshire Associates.

Personal life

Dennis divorced from his wife Suzanne Tito during the early 1990s, to whom he had been married since the 1970s. They had 2 children together. She had been CFO of Wilshire Associates at the time they relocated into their mansion in Pacific Palisades in 1990 with their children, that they had been building since 1987.

As of 2011 Dennis was married to Elizabeth Pavlova Tito, a Russian investor and Stanford alumna. They lived at Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles.

From 2016 to 2019, Dennis was married to Elizabeth TenHouten,

Since 2020, Dennis has been married to Akiko Tito, an engineer, pilot, and investor, who has been interested in spaceflight since childhood. She was born in Tokyo, has an economics degree and relocated to New York in 1995, raising a child prior to her marriage to Dennis.

21st century space interests

Spaceflight

After paying a reported $20 million, Tito was accepted by the Russian Federal Space Agency as a candidate for a commercial spaceflight. Tito was criticised by NASA before the launch, primarily by Daniel Goldin, at that time the Administrator of NASA, who considered it inappropriate for a tourist to ride into space. MirCorp, Goldin and Tito are profiled in the documentary movie Orphans of Apollo. When Tito arrived at the Johnson Space Center for additional training for the American portion of the ISS, Robert D. Cabana, NASA manager, sent Tito and his two fellow cosmonauts home, stating, "...We will not be able to begin training, because we are not willing to train with Dennis Tito".

Later, by an arrangement with space tourism company Space Adventures, Ltd., Tito joined the Soyuz TM-32 mission which launched on April 28, 2001. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station. Tito and his fellow cosmonauts spent 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in space and orbited the Earth 128 times. Tito performed several scientific experiments in orbit that he said would be useful for his company and business.

Since returning from space, he has testified at the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space and the House Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics Joint Hearing on "Commercial Human Spaceflight" on July 24, 2003. Ten years after his flight, he gave an interview to BBC News about it.

Inspiration Mars Foundation

In February 2013, Tito announced his intention to send a privately financed spaceflight to Mars by 2018, stating that the technology exists already and that the problems that need to be solved are only the rigor of a 501-day voyage psychologically and physically for the human crew. However, in November 2013, Tito and other Mars Inspiration team members admitted that their plan was impossible without significant assistance and funding from NASA.

SpaceX Starship’s second commercial spaceflight around the Moon

On 12 October 2022, SpaceX announced that Dennis and Akiko Tito will be on the crew of the second commercial spaceflight of Starship around the Moon.

References

References

1. (April 19, 2019). "Astronaut Biography: Dennis Tito".
2. (November 4, 2002). "Dennis Tito to Speak at Rensselaer Nov. 14". Rensselaer Magazine.
3. "Defender of the Trust Award". Mono Lake Committee.
4. (November 3, 2013). "Wilshire / About Us". Wilshire.
5. (January 11, 2002). "Dennis A. Tito to Receive Prestigious Americanism Award from Boy Scouts of America". Western Los Angeles County Council.
6. (2 October 2020). "FINALLY: Dennis Tito Sells Wilshire Associates to Private Equity Firms". SWFI.
7. Casey Campbell. (13 October 2022). "Who Is Dennis Tito's Wife Akiko? The Couple Is Ready For A Space Tour!". Fitz on ETV.
8. Ron Russell. (11 February 1990). "Some Mixed Reviews for Hilltop Mansion : Homes: Dennis Tito wanted a room with a view. His neighbors, however, say his giant home is spoiling theirs.". The Los Angelese Times.
9. Kevin Courtney. (9 July 2011). "Then & now Dennis Tito, space tourist". The Irish Times.
10. Daniel Goldblatt. (August 19, 2019). "Dennis Tito, World's First Space Tourist, Files for Divorce".
11. Grant, Shawn. (2025-01-09). "The Source {{!}}Balancing Act: Elizabeth TenHouten on Being a Model, Author, and Musician".
12. "Elizabeth TenHouten's Red Carpet Moments: A Look at Her Glamorous Book Launches".
13. Jeff Foust. (12 October 2022). "Dennis Tito and wife to be on second Starship flight around the moon". SpaceNews.
14. Jeffrey Kluger. (17 October 2022). "The World's First Space Tourist Plans a Return Trip—This Time to the Moon". Time Magazine.
15. (April 28, 2001). "Profile: Tito the spaceman".
16. Brian Berger and Simon Saradzhyan. (March 15, 2001). "Goldin, Koptev at Odds on Tito Flight". [[Space.com]].
17. Leonard David. (April 28, 2001). "NASA Chief Remains Miffed Over Tito Launch: 'Space is Not About Egos'". Space.com.
18. Julie Mayeda. (January 18, 2004). "The forgotten frontier". [[SFGate]].
19. Garcia, Mark. (August 7, 2017). "Soyuz 2 Taxi Flight". [[NASA]].
20. (June 15, 2004). "First Space Tourist Dennis Tito to Make Business Visit to Russia". redOrbit.
21. (July 24, 2003). "Congressional Testimony "Commercial Human Spaceflight" by Dennis Tito, Wilshire Associates". SpaceRef.
22. (April 30, 2011). "World's first space tourist 10 years on: Dennis Tito". BBC News.
23. Eric Mack. (February 20, 2013). "First space tourist plans to make trip to Mars in 2018". [[CNET]].
24. Marc Kaufman. (February 27, 2013). "Manned Mars Mission Announced by Dennis Tito Group". [[National Geographic News]].
25. Frank Morring Jr.. (March 4, 2013). "Serious Intent About 2018 Human Mars Mission". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
26. Grossman, Lisa. (November 21, 2013). "Ambitious Mars joy-ride cannot succeed without NASA". [[New Scientist]].
27. (12 October 2022). "First Crewmembers of Starship's Second Commercial Spaceflight Around the Moon". [[SpaceX]].