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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From CEO to Space Tourist

The software guru decided to see if he had the 'right stuff.'

Touchdown: Simonyi after his space-station visit


By Charles Simonyi

How does one decide to visit space? Until recently, no one had faced such a decision. Rare people with the "right stuff" could dedicate their lives to becoming astronauts and cosmonauts and compete for the crew assignments, but the decision of who would fly always rested, rightfully, with the respective space organizations. Then along came Eric Anderson, a young, visionary aerospace engineer who cofounded Space Adventures, making it possible for nonastronauts to buy "taxi" seats aboard Russian spacecraft and travel to the International Space Station. Three cheers for Eric—and hats off to Dennis Tito, the California businessman who in 2001 became Space Adventures' first Spaceflight Participant—or, as most people call it, "space tourist."

I was just an earthbound tourist, visiting Baikonur, the Russian spaceport, when I met Eric in 2004. I was amazed by the openness of the Russian space program—we could practically touch the fully fueled rocket on the launchpad as we saw the cosmonauts off to space. I was even more amazed when Eric, ever so gently, suggested that one day I might want to be on the departure platform where the cosmonauts were standing.

The trip would cost $25 million, which I considered money well spent for the cash-strapped Russian space program. I was intrigued enough to make the first exploratory steps and deal with the uncertainties: What about my health? (I'm 59.) Was I strong enough, physically and mentally, for spaceflight? The good news is that for Spaceflight Participants, the standards aren't as strict as they are for the professionals. But even those minimum standards are too high for most of us. And, frankly, the space doctors have not had much experience working with people without the "right stuff" to know what the real minimums are. I had to visit more than 50 doctors, including psychiatrists, some American and some Russian.


One of the strangest tests was the "vestibular chair," where I had to sit with eyes closed in a rotating seat and bob my head in a steady rhythm. This creates some unusual sensations in the inner ear that are thought by the Russians to be similar to the "space sickness" many spacefarers experience during their first days in orbit. I did not like the chair at all at the time, and although I smiled broadly, inside I was unsure if I could take much more.

To my surprise I kept passing the tests, even the unpleasant ones, and one day in Moscow I was declared fit for "special training." Eric was the first to congratulate me. He also said that, as opposed to what we had planned, the Russians wanted me to enter training as soon as possible and fly on the next spacecraft. I had to decide then and there. It actually wasn't as hard as it seems in the abstract. I felt incredibly lucky and privileged just to have been asked. The answer had to be yes, come what may.

Canceling all appointments for the next 10 months and moving into a dorm room on the Russian military base where cosmonauts are trained was quite a change for me. (After spending two decades at Microsoft, where I oversaw the creation of Word and Excel, I cofounded Intentional Software Corp. in 2002.) I had tutors in many interesting subjects, including the wonderful Russian language. I ate at the officers' mess, where one of the regular dishes was called, simply, myaso—that is, meat. I had a regular exercise program and swam more than I ever have before. I made lots of new friends, including many American astronauts who also train there.

There were many tests, each one harder and harder. I learned how to don and doff my spacesuit even while wearing a gas mask against fire. I spent two hours motionless in the suit in a vacuum chamber. I was spun around in a giant centrifuge to experience the G-loads of the rocket. I was flown in a transport plane to exercise in a state of weightlessness.

Finally, launch day arrived: April 7, 2007. My Russian crewmates and I met with our families—speaking through glass, since we were in quarantine (lest we carry some bugs to the space station). The launch preparation itself is full of traditions: for example, before we climbed the stairs to the elevator, the chief designer himself kicked us firmly in the behind to get us going. Once ensconced in the capsule, we could feel a powerful quiet and peace, which ended with the rumble of the launch. In just eight minutes we were in orbit, weightless.

The window blinds remained drawn for the first few hours: just seeing the Earth go by below could make us sick. But my training worked well. I did not get spacesick at all: any unease I felt reminded me of the chair and how I could tolerate it.


The arrival to the space station at sunset, when the most incredible colors appear, was the high point of my trip. Framed by the empty blackness of the sky and the brilliant blue of Earth, the first permanently settled outpost of humanity in space is an incredible view—at once unexpected and inviting.

Working in space for the next two weeks and watching the Earth from that vantage point filled me with a new sense of hope and pride. From our low orbit, the Earth looked like the most beautiful blue sky I have ever seen—it is big, it is peaceful and it is adorned with white clouds. Traveling around the globe over the years, I have seen many beautiful places. But only as a space tourist did I discover just how beautiful the world truly is.

© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.

Professional Artist to Draw in Space

New Zealander Makoure Scott, one of the first 100 Founder Astronauts for Virgin Galactic, plans to spend his space flight drawing. It's no surprise given that he is a professional artist who has already included space themes in his art (along with Maori and other indigenous influences).

I had the pleasure of meeting Makoure at his centrifuge training which was recently covered by New Zealand's One News. Scott is no small man, so I wondered how he was going to be able to take being six times his normal weight. I think he was wondering too. However, when the time came, he was smiling and even able to touch his nose at 6 Gs- something I don't think I even attempted.

Although I don't have the image of Scott at 6 Gs available at the time of posting, I do have one image I can share with you...

And that is of me at 6 Gs! As you can see, I weigh well over 750 lbs in this picture and the experience is a lot like melting off the seat. (It's actually easier than it sounds).

Makoure marks the start of a new era of space. An era where we will see a much broader range of humanity touch t
he stars. I am incredibly excited to see it myself and will be writing about other space "firsts" that the suborbital flights will bring in future posts.


For now though, I am just happy to see the first New Zealanders getting in the game (Makoure is not the only one!) and artists.

If there is one thing that Virgin knows how to do well, it is to craft their offerings as full sensory experiences. I think that many artists (and non artists) will be able to bring that other-worldly experience back to Earth. My commitment is that we inspire a generation of dreamers, builders, and explorers that expand not just the length of our life- but also the depth.

By Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides

Astronaut's Son Ready To Fulfill Lifelong Dream

WASHINGTON -- When he was growing up in Houston, the son of an astronaut who lived in a neighborhood filled with astronauts and aerospace engineers, Richard Garriott always assumed that he would fly in space. After all, it was an experience his father described in very fact-of-the matter terms as a "nominal" experience.

Garriott, now a multimillionaire video game developer, will achieve his life-long goal of traveling into space in October 2008, but it was not an easy road -- or inexpensive.

Garriott, 46, is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who participated in two space missions including the 1973 Skylab 3 mission that orbited the Earth for 59 days and smashed the previous record for manned spaceflight duration. The younger Garriott is scheduled to become the sixth paying space tourist and the first offspring of an American astronaut to visit space.

Growing up near the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Nassau Bay, Texas, Garriott's neighbors on three sides were all astronauts. Everyone he knew was a NASA engineer in one way or another, so it seemed inevitable to him that he would grow up and go to space.

"It was a shock to me that as I got older, there were lots of reasons why going into space was such a rare commodity," Garriott said Tuesday in a media roundtable event in Washington sponsored by the Space Foundation.

His poor eyesight alone was enough to disqualify him from a NASA space mission. So he understood early in life that if he were to go into space, it would not be as a government astronaut, it would be through a private enterprise.

Passion for World Building

Garriott's passion for computers and building worlds to explore within them made him wealthy from a young age. He developed his first video game when he was in high school, one that generated $150,000 in personal revenue. He is also the creator of the popular Ultima series of online games and has started and sold two video game companies.

Garriott paid $30 million for his trip to space tourism firm Space Adventures of Vienna, Va., a company for which he sits on the board of directors. A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch him up to the International Space Station where he will spend several weeks. Garriott is contemplating paying another $15 million to take a spacewalk.

In January Garriott will leave for Star City, Russia, where his mission training will begin. He will learn spacecraft operation, survival and experimental training there as well as undergo medical testing to ensure he is ready for space.

The hardest part of his training will not be the physical rigors, he said. As a high-school computer prodigy, Garriott was permitted to develop his own self-taught computer curriculum in lieu of the two-year foreign language requirement. So learning his first foreign language, the Russian he will need to operate his space capsule, will be his greatest challenge.

Bonding with Dad

The thrill of being one of the first 500 humans to leave the planet is not Garriott's only goal. He is a true believer in the commercial value of manned spaceflight and will be taking with him a series of experiments he hopes will generate profit. In one experiment his father helped design, protein crystals will be made in the zero-gravity environment. The crystals form perfectly under these conditions, and accurate images of their structures are extremely valuable to pharmaceutical companies, he said.

"We're in the search for more and more of these activities that are not just research," Garriott said. "We're trying to find something that has resale value."

Owen Garriott is now serving as his son's chief scientist for the mission, helping his son find and verify the best commercial and scientific research activities for the mission.

"It's a great father-son bonding time," the younger Garriott said. "We haven't had the chance to really work closely together like this. So it's very cool from my perspective that I've got one of the world's leading experts close at hand who also happens to have such a deep personal relationship [with me]."

Expert Advice

Several weeks ago Garriott had a conversation with astronaut Alan Bean, who flew with Garriott's father on Skylab 3. Bean emphasized how important he thinks it is for people who are not military pilots to go up and experience space travel, as they will be well-suited when they return to talk about space travel and how it can be expanded in an entrepreneurial way.

Bean also told Garriott he does not expect him to experience the emotional letdown some astronauts have felt after achieving their long-time goal of getting to space. Garriott has had similar conversations with all five previous space tourists who told him the same thing.

"The feedback I'm getting from those I consider close to me imply this is going to do nothing but add to my life experience," Garriott said.

Garriot said his father is separated enough from his time in NASA's space program that he now regards the experience as more than just a nominal.

"He clearly gets a much bigger gleam in his eye when he reflects on some of the early pioneering work he had the chance to do."

Source: Space.com

Spaceflights now for sale; scary part is price

Considering space travel on one of Virgin Galactic's new ships?

The sales pitch goes like this: The first hour will be relatively painless, a graceful ascent in a spaceship attached to a mother ship. Once the vessels reach 50,000 feet, the ship containing you, five more tourists and two pilots will detach and fall for a moment.

Then, the thrusters will propel it up for 90 seconds, traveling three times the speed of sound. All of the spacecraft's fuel will burn away, leaving its tanks empty.

The G-forces on your body will push your blood toward your feet. It is hoped that you won't black out, but if you do, you'll come to when you're at zero gravity.

Once above the undefined line that delineates Earth from space, your craft will arch to a height of 360,000 feet for about four minutes. You will be weightless and have stunning views of Earth's curvature, 1,000 miles in any direction.

And then gravity will beckon the vessel down to Earth, the human bodies within it feeling pressure six times their weight, sort of like a "big, hairy, fat cat sitting on your chest."

Total approximate time: two hours and nine minutes. All this for only $200,000 -- a lot of money to most folks, but a mere fraction of the millions spent by previous space tourists.

Bothell travel agent Angie Lepley is getting quite good at making the pitch: Earlier this year, she was chosen as one of 45 agents countrywide who are permitted to sell Virgin Galactic tours. She is the only agent in Washington, Idaho and Oregon who sells the trips.

"People do yachts and private villas and first-class airfare," Lepley said. "In the scheme of how people travel nowadays, I don't think (the price) is a lot."

Being chosen is a boon for Tangerine Travel, which Lepley founded in 1988. Her company, originally named ETI Travel, is one of 907 licensed travel agencies in Washington.

Last Thursday, Tangerine held a stylish client-appreciation event at a still-under-construction, 12,000-square-foot office in Bothell. Her business, with 57 employees, has outgrown its Kirkland location.

Guests were told that a Virgin Galactic representative would be on hand to answer questions. The representative turned out to be President Will Whitehorn. The Londoner said he was in town to visit Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who kick-started funding for Virgin Galactic's ship with 25 million British pounds, which converts to about $52 million at present exchange rates.



Space tourism is real

Ten years ago, space tourism was considered far-fetched and sensational. But as the noise from screaming headlines died away, the entrepreneurs determined to make it reality have been quietly perfecting their spaceports and crafts. Among them is Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, who operates Blue Origin, a secretive company with operations in Kent and in Culberson County, Texas.

Around the U.S., 16 commercial spaceports -- sort of like airports for spaceships -- are finished or planned. They will operate outside the bounds of both the Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Space tourism could generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue by 2021, the FAA says. The largest share of that revenue will come from suborbital flights, such as the ones proposed by Virgin Galactic.

So far, Vienna, Va.-based Space Adventures Ltd. is the only company that has put private citizens in space. It works with the Russian Space Agency, NASA and the International Space Station partners

"We are the only company that takes people up right now and will be, probably, I'd say, for the next four years," Chief Executive Eric Anderson said.

The most recent tourist was Charles Simonyi, who formerly led Microsoft Corp.'s Word and Excel teams. He reportedly paid about $25 million for the trip.

Other space tourism companies aren't competition for Space Adventures, Anderson said.

"I kind of consider them potential providers and partners in the future," he said. "We're not building rockets. We are an experience provider."

The FAA governs space tourism by licensing commercial rockets and issuing experimental launch permits. But it cannot guarantee that the programs being offered are safe -- people who sign up are giving informed consent, which means they are aware of the dangers, said FAA spokesman Hank Price.

Billionaire Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group, expects his company to be the next to put citizens in space. Up to five new tourists sign up per month, said Whitehorn, the Virgin Galactic president. Virgin already has sold nearly 200 seats, and holds $26 million in customer deposits. The first flight is planned for 2010.

News about Virgin's progress had been limited until an explosion at the Mojave Desert facility killed three technicians in July, which forced public scrutiny upon spacecraft construction.

'On the cutting edge'

Lepley, in Bothell, completed a training course at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where she learned how to sell space tours. She is marketing the trips to corporations and high-net-worth people, but no one has yet plunked down a deposit. Deposits start at $20,000.

But, she said, Seattle is full of adventuresome types and she expects a deposit in a few days. "They've done Italy, they've done the African safari, they've done Nepal," she said.

Her commission on each trip sold -- 3 percent -- is not as high as other travel sales, but her company gets name recognition, "and to be on the cutting edge and sell something for the adventurous soul," she said.

Huib van Leeuwen, 42, a Seattle engineer, is one such soul. He's already registered his interest online.

"It's something of a real fantasy, going into space," he said. His biggest concern is that the other people in the craft could ruin the experience.

He looked longingly at a model spacecraft at the Bothell party on Thursday. He hasn't yet made a deposit, he confessed, nor saved the money to go.

How long until it's his turn? "I'm talking to my wife about it."

WHICH TRIP IS THE BARGAIN?

SPACE ADVENTURES tourists pay about $25 million to spend two weeks at zero gravity, totaling 20,160 minutes.

Per-minute cost: $1,240

VIRGIN GALACTIC will charge $200,000 for its trip, which includes four minutes at zero gravity.

Per-minute cost: $50,000

INTO SPACE

Commercial human spaceflight milestones:

April 1, 2004: U.S. government issues the first launch license for a reusable launch vehicle to Scaled Composites. The company is building a spaceship for Virgin Galactic.

April 8, 2004: Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne completes the first private- sector human commercial rocket launch.

June 17, 2004: U.S. government issues the first license for an inland spaceport to Mojave, Calif.

June 21, 2004: U.S. government awards Mike Melvill the first commercial astronaut wings for his successful flight of SpaceShipOne.

Oct. 4, 2004: An international competition awards $10 million, called the XPrize, to Scaled Composites for its successful flights of SpaceShipOne. Pilot Brian Binnie receives the FAA's second set of commercial astronaut wings.

Dec. 31, 2006: FAA issues requirements for crew and passengers involved in private space travel.

April 6, 2007: FAA completes guidelines for obtaining experimental launch permits.

Source: Federal Aviation Administration

G.A.P Adventures takes travellers to the edge of space

After years of providing travellers with the most exciting, innovative adventures in the world, G.A.P Adventures is now helping people experience our planet’s last frontier—space. With the launch of these three new Space Experiences, G.A.P Adventures can now cater to those travellers whose wanderlust extends beyond this world.

“Making new and thrilling travel experiences available to people has driven G.A.P Adventures to every corner of the globe,” said G.A.P Adventures CEO Bruce Poon Tip. “I am proud that we now also cater to travellers who not only look up into the night’s sky with open eyed curiosity, but want to experience it first-hand. For G.A.P Adventures it was never a question of if we could provide our travellers with the experience of undertaking space travel, but when.”

G.A.P Adventures new Space Experiences include:

Russia Space Adventure – The Edge of Earth: Would be astronauts no longer require a degree in astrophysics or a million dollar bank account to be able to view the earth’s curve from 60,000 ft with G.A.P Adventures new Russia Space Adventure. Travellers will be taken to the upper reaches of earth’s atmosphere in a MIG-31 Jet Fighter to experience the edge of space itself.

When their feet finally touch the ground, travellers on this adventure will be able to explore remnants of the vast aviation history that placed the then Soviet Union on the world map. The Monino Air Museum, just outside of Moscow, houses some of the oldest aircrafts in the former Soviet Republic. This three-day trip concludes with a chance for travellers to immerse themselves in the many sights of fascinating Moscow, with the third day acting as a back-up flight day in case of poor weather conditions.

Zero Gravity Adventure: G.A.P Adventures has a tour that allows travellers to experience zero gravity first-hand. After exploring Moscow, tour members will be transported to the Chkailovsky Air Base, located just outside of Moscow. After one day of cosmonaut training, they will fly 34,000ft into the atmosphere to experience zero gravity. Once the proper altitude is reached of this remarkable flight, weightlessness takes control and the travellers will feel as though they were in space itself.

Cosmonaut for a Day: If you don’t want to fly to 60,000 ft but would still like to experience life as a cosmonaut, then G.A.P Adventures has the ideal tour. The five-day “cosmonaut training package” provides the opportunity to train like a real Russian cosmonaut, from eating space food to experiencing space simulators. Also included is an opportunity to explore the immense aviation history of Russia and the many tourist attractions of Moscow. This unique tour allows travellers to experience what is required for life in space, without having to leave earth.

G.A.P Adventures has committed itself to providing the public with unique and accessible travel experiences. The three new Space Experiences will take travellers closer to space than ever before. For more information visit Gapadventures.com.

Space cadets taken in by TV hoax

Three contestants have spoken of their disbelief after being fooled into thinking they went into space for the UK reality show Space Cadets.

The three believed they had blasted off from a cosmonaut training camp in Russia, but were in fact in a fake spaceship in a warehouse in Suffolk.

They cheered up when told they had each won £25,000 ($44,300).

But one contestant, teaching assistant Keri Hasset from Birmingham, said she was "heartbroken" by the prank.

Fake ceremony

"When I thought we were coming back to Earth I was planning my speech. I was going to say it had been my childhood dream. Now I'm a little bit heartbroken," she said.

Ms Hasset, plasterer Paul French, 26 from Bristol, and footballer/recruitment consultant Billy Jackson, 25, from Kent, had suspicions they were being tricked when they had to hold a ceremony for a celebrity Russian dog called Mr Bimby on the spaceship.

"This is a spacecraft but it feels like a caravan," Paul told his fellow astronauts.

"And if we were going to space and they were weighing us for our health, they wouldn't use scales like you get at home, would they?"

On discovering the show was a fake, Billy told Channel 4: "My mum and dad are gonna love this.

"This is the biggest wind-up ever. This is wicked."

"Aw man," said Paul. "We're not astronauts. We're just asses."

The show, presented by Johnny Vaughan, built a full-scale replica of a Russian space training camp in a disused hangar near Ipswich.

The ten original contestants had been whittled down to three over the course of two weeks, with the winners believing they were becoming Britain's first space tourists.

Channel 4 invested millions in the hoax but viewing figures slipped during the series.
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