Cirque Du Soleil's Guy Laliberte in Space for the "Poetic Social Mission"

Guy Laliberte, the founder of "Cirque du Soleil," became Canada's first space tourist and the first 'clown' in space after blasting off on a Russian Soyuz space craft headed for the International Space Station (ISS) on September 30, 2009. Laliberte will spend nine days at the ISS and will return to Earth October 11, 2009. Laliberte, who is ranked on Forbes' list of the Worlds Richest People, spent $35 for the mission.

Although Laliberte, of Montreal, Canada, has always dreamed of traveling in space, the billionaire's trip is a humanitarian undertaking, a part of the "Poetic Social Mission," with the theme "Moving Stars and Earth for Water." The event is a mission to raise awareness regarding the Earth's clean water shortage and to "pay tribute to this vitally important natural resource."

Celebrities and well-know personalities will each read a part of a poem by Canadian author Yann Martell in the multimedia event that will broadcast around the world on October 9, 2009. "Moving Stars and Earth for Water" will also include musical and dance performances. The celebrity list of participants include Joss Stone, U2, Peter Gabriel, Matthew McConaughey, Salma Hayak, Former Vice President Al Gore and Shakira.

In a press release from Cirque du Soleil, Laliberte said the poem about "the Moon, the Sun and a drop of water" will draw attention to the importance of water and will "raise awareness through artistic illustration of the humanitarian struggles and solutions associated with water." Laliberte explained, "During my training and preparation for this flight, I have found that many in the international space community share my concerns about water and support my project. They understood my intentions and they also agree that using an artistic language will allow us to reach not only the interested space community, but the people who are not ordinarily interested by activities in space. I want to thank them for their genuine openness and understanding. Their support is invaluable to me because it confirms that even if there are six billion of us, we can work together toward a common goal and change the world... one step at a time, one drop at a time."

The "Moving Stars and Earth For Water" artistic event will be broadcast from 14 different cities and will be the first artistic presentation from the International Space Station. The 120 minute event will broadcast in full on OneDrop.org and will be televised in the United States on The 101 Network and in Latin America on Direct TV.