LOS ANGELES - Lance Bass of the boy-band 'N Sync can make teenage hearts go pitter-pat, but the pop singer needed to get his own ticker on a steady beat before he could pursue his dream to soar into Earth orbit. The 23-year-old performer recently underwent an outpatient "surgical procedure" to correct an irregular heartbeat in order to qualify for a seat aboard a Russian rocket flight to the International Space Station, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

His heart condition was "not even remotely life-threatening," publicist Jill Fritzo told Reuters. "It's something he had wanted to correct for a long time, but being that he's planning to go into space, it prompted him to move it up a bit." Bass, the low voice of the five-member pop group, recently wrapped up an 'N Sync tour and was back at the cosmonaut training center in Russia's Star City this week for additional medical tests, Fritzo said.

If Bass passes the battery of tests and qualifies as physically fit for the space shot, he will begin a rigorous training program for a launch this fall from the Baikonur space center in Kazakstan. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of the world's first two space tourists - American businessman Dennis Tito and South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth - for a ride into orbit that reportedly costs $20 million.

Flying into orbit has been a lifelong dream for Bass, who even attended space camp as a kid, Fritzo said. The entertainer traveled to Moscow for an initial series of tests in March. If selected, Bass would be a passenger aboard a Soyuz resupply mission to the International Space Station on a flight that would last seven to eight days, from blastoff to return, said David Krieff, president of Destiny Productions, which is organizing corporate sponsors to pay for the trip.

"He's looking great. He's going to pass all the tests," Krieff said, adding he expected Bass to know for sure whether he was cleared for space flight early next week.