NASA Says U.S. Crew Did Not Snub Tito

U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station were tired, not unfriendly, when space tourist Dennis Tito paid a visit this month, said a NASA official at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The comments came in response to complaints this week from a cosmonaut who accompanied Tito. Talgat Musabayev said that the U.S. crew members were not very cordial and appeared to have been ordered to keep their distance from their countryman.

The Russians flew Tito, a rich businessman and amateur space buff, to the space station despite strong opposition from the U.S.