Bye, Bye, Bye: Bass to Blast Off

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/09/2002 at 01:50 AM EDT

It's all systems go for Lance Bass's October earth-orbiting space mission, his chief supporter, Hollywood producer David Krieff, insists to Reuters. Krieff, who reportedly has arranged the $20 million financial backing required for Bass's participation, dismissed a Russian claim earlier this week that Bass was behind on his payments to hop aboard the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, thus jeopardizing the status of the 'N Sync singer, 23. (The eight-day trip is due to blast off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Oct. 28, with Bass joining two cosmonauts on a re-supply mission to the space station.) Bass is currently training for the trip at Russia's Space City, outside of Moscow. "We're moving forward. We're excited about it," Krieff told Reuters, adding that Russian space agency executives and attorneys flew to Los Angeles last week and spent eight days fine-tuning a 400-page flight agreement. "We are meeting and have met every obligation, and we will continue to meet every obligation, of our contract," Krieff said. "The problems . . . started on their side because of big mouths, (but) that's another situation."