November 12, 2008 12:09

'N Sync singer now 'two inches shorter' after space training

Lance Bass says Russian cosmonaut training has shrunk him

'N Sync singer Lance Bass has revealed that following cosmonaut training he received in Russia in 2002 he was two inches shorter than he was was before he started.

Bass, speaking on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno', said that his trainers made him a special suit that would contract him in space – but he wasn't sure the exact reason behind his body change.

"I got shorter," he said, "I did! I don't know what happened. Everyone said, 'You're much shorter', so I measured myself and... yeah."

The singer failed to come up with the £12.9 million needed to pay for a trip into space, so hasn't been able to apply his skills yet.

"It was condensed training," he said, "because it takes years to become a cosmonaut and they only had six months to train me."

He added: "I had a translator that didn't speak much English and a Russian teacher that spoke only French and Russian – they thought that's how I'd learn it better."