Ticket to ride - The Washington Times

Richard Garriott always knew he would fly into space. But unlike his astronaut father, his less-than-perfect eyesight dashed any hope of a government mission.


So Mr. Garriott turned to the private sector, where $30 million bought him a ticket aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station in the coming October.


As the sixth amateur to make the trek, he hopes to prove that 10 days orbiting the Earth is worth such a considerable price tag.


"I'm personally a big believer [that] if there is justification for people being in space, then it sure ought to pay dividends commensurate with the investment put into it," said Mr. Garriott, 36, a Texas-based multimillionaire who founded and sold several computer game companies.


His father, astronaut-scientist Owen Garriott, spent more than 20 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, completing two spaceflights in his career. Now, decades later, Richard Garriott's mission is being booked by Space Adventures Ltd., a Vienna, Va., company that buys extra seats on Russian spacecraft headed to the International Space Station.


Space Adventures has sent five private citizens into space. American businessman Dennis Tito in 2001 was the first. Software pioneer Charles Simonyi was the most recent one, lifting off this spring.


Mr. Garriott has the unmistakable credentials of an adrenaline junkie. He participates in sky diving, hang gliding, caving and rock climbing. His thirst for terrestrial exploration has taken him to the depths of the ocean to study bacteria on hydrothermal vents, and to Antarctica to search for meteorites.


But Mr. Garriott said he is more than a space tourist. He has long been an investor in space privatization and sits on the board of Space Adventures. To demonstrate the commercial value of private spaceflight, he plans to conduct several scientific experiments in space that, unlike NASA-sponsored research, are focused on making a profit.

source: http://washingtontimes.com
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