Tag Archive for 'Richard Garriott'

Happy Birthday, Suborbital Tourism: Now, Will Ya Go Fly Some Actual Tourists Already?

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Doug
on June 28, 2008
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Alan Boyle helps the space tourism industry celebrate its fourth “birthday” with a piece over at MSNBC. Or, more accurately, he marks the anniversary of Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites ushering in the “age of privately developed spaceflight” with the first suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne.

Boyle reviews the progress since that date, noting the only predictable thing is the industry’s unpredictability. Virgin Galactic’s first suborbital tourist flight is still about two years away, which is more or less where it was back in June 2004.

For his part, Rutan professes to have been so caught up building SpaceShipTwo that he plum forgot about the whole anniversary thing until Boyle reminded him. This folksy “ahh shucks” response may be designed to minimize the four years that have passed since that historic flight. Or things are so far behind schedule that he genuinely did forget.

Whatever the case, the legendary designer is not as active as he once was in Scaled Composites, which is now fully owned by defense colossus Northrop Grumman. Rutan, who is still recovering from open heart surgery in February, stepped down as the company’s president earlier this month. Sources who have seen him give speeches in recent months report that he has a tendency to meander off topic into tangents, a sign of how much the surgery has affected him.

Meanwhile, Space.com’s Tariq Malik looks at a couple of upcoming space tourism events: Virgin Galactic’s scheduled July 28 rollout of its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which will haul SpaceShipTwo aloft; and Space Adventures’ October launch of publicity shy Richard Garriott, who will be the latest billionaire to use the taxpayer-funded International Space Station as an orbiting hotel.

Parabolas: In Space, No One Can Hear You Beg; the Russians are Going (and so is Garriott)

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on June 28, 2008
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Weaver Makes Bid for Space Travel
PR-Insider.com

Actress Sigourney Weaver is begging Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson to let her be next celebrity to venture into space.

Weaver says, “I’d love to go (to space). Sure, if I had the opportunity. I read somewhere that I was going… I apparently was on the passenger list. I was apparently on the invitation (from Branson).”

Six Russians to Take First Virgin Galactic Space Ride in 2010
RIA Novosti

Six Russians are to be the initial clients of the world’s first space travel agency, Virgin Galactic, which is to launch suborbital passenger flights in 2010.

Igor Kutsenko, who runs an advertising firm in Moscow, told a Virgin Galactic news conference in the Russian capital that he and his business partner, Sergei Tyaglov, had bought tickets 18 months ago, and that he had also reserved tickets for his parents, both in their fifties.

Options for Space Tourists
Andrei Kislyakov
RIA Novosti

What we have here is a typically Russian paradox: although this country was the first to try out space tourism, it has failed to develop it further, letting other countries reap the fruits of this endeavor.

Furthermore, the ways in which Roskosmos (Russian Federal Space Agency) has been trying to branch out into tourism has no benefits for our national space program.

Way Later than 2001, Space Odysseys are Under Way
Helen Anders
American Statesman

“I grew up assuming all of us would go into space,” [Richard] Garriott says. Then he found out he had poor eyesight. Too bad, the family doctor told the youngster; you can’t be an astronaut.

“That’s when I realized,” Garriott says, “if I’m going it will have to be outside NASA.”

Space Tourism Roundup: Spaceports Down Under, Orbital Postcards and Customer No. 205

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on April 16, 2008
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The South Australian Tourism Commission is “cautiously optimistic” about Virgin Galactic flying space tourism vehicles from Woomera. The London-based company is considering a spaceport in Australia at some point in the future.

The Wimmera Mail-Times reports that Mrs. Amanda Wilson of Horsham, South Australia wants to invite Virgin Galactic boss Richard Branson to her town as part of a bid to locate a spaceport there. The paper really doesn’t explain who Mrs. Wilson is, but she is truly excited about space travel. She may have to wait awhile; the paper quotes a Virgin official as saying Australia is not in the company’s immediate plans.

Speaking of Virgin Galactic, The Advertiser has a story about Englishman Richard Burr, who is number 205 on the list to fly into suborbital space aboard SpaceShipTwo. The 52-year-old North Norfolk man is a property developer and businessman. “Everybody has a dream,” Burr said, “mine happens to be expensive.”

The world’s next space tourist, Richard Garriott, will take custom photographs of Earth for 200 paying subscribers on his ISS flight in October. The “Earth Portraits” program is being co-sponsored by the Association of Space Explorers and the space memorabilia website collectSPACE.com.

Russia May End ISS Tourist Flights in 2010; Urges Use of Station Until 2020

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on April 12, 2008
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Russian space officials said on Friday they may not be able to continue launching space tourists to the International Space Station after the crew size aboard the orbiting laboratory increases from three to six in 2010, according to the Associated Press.

“We will continue flying tourists to the international space station in accordance with the existing programs, but we may have problems with it starting from 2010 because of planned increase of the ISS’ crew,” said Anatoly Perminov, chief of the Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos.

This could be bad news for Reston, Virginia-based Space Adventures, which has already flown five wealthy private citizens to the station. Software guru Richard Garriott, who is scheduled to fly in October, would not be affected by the change.

Meanwhile, Agence France Presse reports that Russia is appealing to its ISS partners to continue using the station until 2020, longer than originally planned. Station construction has fallen behind schedule; Russia will not complete installation of its ISS research module until 2015.

Space Tourism Roundup

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Doug
on March 20, 2008
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A brief round-up of some recent developments on the space tourism front:

The Daily Record has an interview with Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn. The Edinburgh-born Scot recalls his excitement at the age of 9 when he watched Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walk on the moon. Now he’s getting his chance to make space travel a dream for people who are not astronauts.

Meanwhile, space tourist Richard Garriott has teamed up with the Challenge Center for a joint education program. Garriott will give science lessons during his flight to the International Space Station in October. Students also are encouraged to submit questions to Garriott through their local Challenger Centers. The astronaut will hold several live conversations with students and Challenger Centers during his flight.

The Challenger Center also is sponsoring a competition for students of all ages to submit designs for a t-shirt or mission match that would represent Garriott’s educational activities during the flight.

Billionaires In Space

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Doug
on March 5, 2008
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Forbes has an interesting interview with Richard Garriott, the billionaire software developer who will become the next space tourist to fly to the International Space Station in October.

Garriott, whose father Owen fly in space aboard Skyab and the space shuttle, says that his ambition goes a lot further than just taking an orbital joyride. He wants to contribute to opening up space for everyone.

“I grew up listening to criticisms of space exploration. My mission is to show that this is a useful, profitable activity,” said Gariott, who will conduct experiments during his 10-14 day flight.

Alabama Students to Participate in Upcoming ISS Flight

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on March 4, 2008
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Twenty Alabama high school juniors have helped to prepare crystal growth experiments that American space tourist Richard Garriott will take to the International Space Station in October.

The Birmingham News has story about the students’ involvement in the program, which was spearheaded by University of Alabama at Huntsville associate professor Joe Ng.

Crystals grow at different rates in micro-gravity than they do in normal gravity. The students will compare the results of the crystal experiments in space with a control group on Earth.

To learn more about the mission, you can also visit Garriott’s web site at www.richardinspace.com.

UK Students to Participate in Richard Garriott’s ISS Flight

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on March 4, 2008
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SPACE ADVENTURES PRESS RELEASE
March 4, 2008

UK students will have a chance to get involved in two out-of-this-world space science experiments when British-born space entrepreneur Richard Garriott arrives at the International Space Station (ISS) this Autumn.

Developed in partnership with the British National Space Centre (BNSC), which co-ordinates civil space activities in the UK, and US company Space Adventures, which provides spaceflight opportunities for private citizens, the educational outreach programme will include challenges for both primary and secondary school students across the UK:

Primary schools students will be invited to design an experiment to be carried out by Mr. Garriott on the International Space Station and reviewed by retired astronaut Dr. Owen Garriott and by leading UK scientists including Dr Samantha Wynne, Cambridge University, and Professor Peter McCowan, Queen Mary, University of London.

Students aged 11-19 will be invited to imagine how space enterprise could develop in the future for space tourism companies including Space Adventures, using facilities such as the International Space Station.

Continue reading ‘UK Students to Participate in Richard Garriott’s ISS Flight’

Interviews with Richard Garriott

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on February 18, 2008
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Air & Space Magazine’s Irene Klotz talks with space tourist Richard Garriott, a computer game developer scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in October. A second generation space traveler, his father Owen flew aboard Skylab and the Space Shuttle.

“While computer games have been my vocation, my personal and private investing and side hobby has been in exploration and adventure travel, with a focus on getting civilians into space. Space Adventures, which made history by sending the first civilian into space, is a company that I was the earliest investor in, and still the largest investor, and I’m thrilled that now we’re finally able to allow me to take that journey.”

Sam Dinkin also has a new interview with Garriott over at The Space Review. Garriott talks about the challenges of learning Russian, the similarities between spaceflight and the video games he designs, and explains the experiments he will be conducting on ISS.

Russian Doctors OK Garriott, Halik for October ISS Flight

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on February 13, 2008
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Russian doctors have given a clean bill of health to Richard Garriott and Nik Halik, for a tourism flight to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.

“Richard Garriott and his backup Nik Halik have been allowed to undergo special physical training at Star City. No contraindications were detected in the candidates against training and the flight to the International Space Station,” said Mark Belakovsky, of Russia’s Medical Biological Problems Institute.