by Playfuls Staff |
6th April 2007
The world's fifth space tourist is ready to blast off to the International Space Station (ISS). Billionaire software programmer Charles Simonyi, 58, made his fortune as a pioneer at U.S. software[more] giant Microsoft. Mr. Simonyi made his fortune as the chief software writer behind Microsoft’s Word and Excel programs. His trip has been booked by Space Adventures, a US-based company, in conjunction with the Russian space agency.
He has been training for six months at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia and at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Most of the training is designed to prepare him for the exhilarating eight minute ride to escape the Earth's atmosphere and his time on board the International Space Station (ISS).
He chose to take his own food to the ISS, with plenty to share with his colleagues. That's not really a surprise, considering his partner is Martha Stewart, owner of a cooking and homemaking empire.
"I am really looking forward to sharing this dinner with my crewmates on the station," Mr. Simonyi said. "Although the food is very good there, it is somewhat basic, and after a couple of weeks everything starts tasting the same. I am certain a little variation will be surely welcome."
The "little variation" will be quail roasted in Madeira wine, purée of celeriac and nutmeg, duck breast confit with capers and shredded chicken Parmentier. Dessert comprises apple fondant, rice pudding with candied fruit and semolina cake with apricots.
Simonyi is set to blast off at 17:31 GMT on Saturday from the space centre here with Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov. While on the ISS, he won't just sit around. Simonyi will be conducting medical experiments for the European Space Agency and testing high-definition cameras for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.
The $20 million ride will make him the 450th person to enter orbit and by his own admission "the first nerd in space". He is now making final preparations in a quarantine unit at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Simonyi is set to return on April 20th, together with the current ISS crew.
"There are really two reasons for the isolation," Dr Simonyi told the BBC News website. "The practical reason is so that you don't get sick. The other reason is perhaps psychological - it helps you focus on the task ahead."
"There are a few valves on my side of the [Soyuz] space craft which are not flight critical but if they are not handled they will become flight critical," he said. The valves control the air conditioning and oxygen supply.
"You may think that is very important but there is a large amount of oxygen in the cabin," he explained. "My main role is to take care of myself and my space suit. I have to put on the gloves, close and open the visor, manipulate the valve to check the pressure integrity," he said.
Charles also set up a blog which he will use to detail his experiences while on the ISS,
www.charlesinspace.com. Dr. Simonyi will provide daily updates regarding his stellar activities on this award-winning, rich-media Web site with live video and photos from NASA, as well as footage taken and captioned by Dr. Simonyi, and audio recordings, a press release reads.
Dr. Simonyi's site,
http://www.charlesinspace.com/, was created to "further develop his three space mission objectives: to involve the world's children in the science of space travel, advance civilian spaceflight and assist in space station research."
