(With thanks to News24.com)

Cape Town - Wine bottle labels from a Paarl wine farm in the Cape are expected to blast off into space when the world's third space tourist embarks on a trip of a lifetime.

Dr Greg Olsen, an American multimillionaire, will follow in the footsteps of Dennis Tito and South Africa's Mark Shuttelworth when he joins a team of Russian astronauts in space next year. Like Shuttelworth, Olsen will not be only a passenger. Instead, he will conduct his own experiments while at the international space station, Suyoz.

Olsen made his fortune after starting up his first company, Epitaxx, which specialises in optical fibres. Again, like Shuttelworth, he sold the company for an astronomical profit. He started Epitaxx 12 years ago after completing his post-doctorate studies at Port Elizabeth University's department of physics. 

With the profits made from Epitaxx, he started another company called Sensors Unlimited. This he sold in 2000 for an estimated US$700m (about R5bn). When the telecommunications industry crashed in the United States, he and his partners bought back the company for US$7m.

Professor Hennie Snyman, the Port Elizabeth technikon rector who studied with Olsen in the US, said the millionaire had, despite his success, remained a humble man. 'He is an outstanding scientist who has done unbelievable work.'

Snyman said he had been friends with Olsen for more than 30 years and said the man had always had a soft spot for South Africa and its people. Olsen often visited South Africa. He also has a wine farm called La Vinette, where he spends a lot of his time, in the Paarl district.

Olsen told Associated Press he had big plans for the wine from his farm. 'We are producing a certain amount of wine there and I would very much like to take some wine-bottle labels with me and stamp them in space. I want to bring them back as souvenirs and put them on my bottles.'

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