South Korea paid Russia $20 million to get their first astronaut (participant) in space. Yi So-yeon, a South Korean bioengineer, was picked from 36,000 applicants. She was actually South Korea's second pick. Ko San made a boo boo and, alas, he was replaced.

The Soyuz flight also marked a milestone for the mission commander, Volkov, who became the first second-generation astronaut or cosmonaut to reach space.

Volkov's father, Alexander Volkov, is a decorated cosmonaut from the Soviet era. On his last journey, he left Earth as a Soviet citizen and returned as a citizen of the new Russian Federation, following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Pretty cool.