Richard Garriott, the father of UO, has paid about USD 30 million for his 10-day trip to the International Space Station, and become the sixth private astronaut to take a trip on a Russian spacecraft and visit the station.
As reported by the BBC, Garriott is heading for the International Space Station, accompanied by a U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut. Garriott#DY#s father, Owen, an American astronaut, was on hand for the launch. Owen Garriott had spent 60 days on a US space station in 1973.
He plans to carry out experiments during his voyage, including one involving protein crystal growth, on behalf of companies that he says have footed a "meaningful percentage" of the ticket price.
Richard Garriott has also said he would take photos to record how the Earth#DY#s surface has changed in the 35 years since his father#DY#s voyage.
According to his earlier words, USD 30 million is not a small sum of money for him, "Frankly speaking,it cost most of my property "
About Richard Garriott
"We create worlds." Origin Systems#DY#motto sums up what Richard Garriott has done for over 20 years in the gaming industry. As a teen, he published the role-playing game Akalabeth that lead to the 10-title Ultima series for which he is best known. Launched in 1997, the blockbusterUltima Online(UO) brought the graphical massively multiplayer, online RPGs to the mainstream and proved it could be a lucrative business. Tabula Rasa, Richard Garriott#DY#s latest game, is a massively multiplayer online action game that takes you into the heat of battle at the frontlines of an epic war between a xenophobic alien race bent on galactic conquest and the coalition of rebel soldiers who#DY#ve traveled across the galaxy to stop them.
