Space
tourist-to-be Richard Garriott is taking requests for what may be the ultimate
orbital postcards from the International Space Station (ISS).
Garriott,
an American
computer game developer training for an October launch, will take custom
photographs of Earth for about 200 paying subscribers under a partnership with
the "Earth Portraits" program of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) and
the space history and memorabilia Web site collectSPACE.com.
"The
Association of Space Explorers' Earth Portraits allows me a way to share the
excitement of seeing the Earth from orbit with enthusiasts from around the
world," Garriott, 46, said in a statement. "I look forward to taking their
pictures from space."
Based in
Austin, Texas, Garriott is paying about $30 million for his planned
Oct. 12 launch to the ISS with two professional astronauts under a deal
brokered with Russia's Federal Space Agency by the Virginia-based firm Space
Adventures. He plans to perform a series of experiments and educational outreach projects during his flight in addition to the Earth Portraits program.
Garriott developed the Ultima online and Tabula Rasa computer games, and
is the son of retired
NASA astronaut Owen Garriott.
The
non-profit ASE is a group of 300 flown astronauts and cosmonauts from 32
countries. As part of the Earth Portraits program, a limited number of 200
subscribers can pay $500 a piece to have Garriott snap a photo of any location
on Earth, so long as it is visible from the ISS during his week-long stay. The
actual latitude and longitude of the location is required to request an Earth
Portrait, with all reservations due by May 23.
"The view
of Earth from space has been captivating astronauts and cosmonauts since Yuri
Gagarin exclaimed 'I see Earth! It is so beautiful!' on his trailblazing flight
in April 1961," said Andy Turnage, ASE executive director. "We are proud to be
the first to offer the public their chance to own unique photos of their
hometowns or other favorite locales on Earth."
After his
return to Earth, Garriott will autograph each photograph and include a brief
personalized message of the subscriber's choice.
The 8-by-10
inch photograph is expected to cover an area of about 18 by 28 miles (30 by 45
km) at a resolution of about 100 feet (30 meters) and be delivered in February
2009, program officials said. Each subscriber will also be entered in a bonus
raffle to win a memento that flew to space with Garriott, they added.
Proceeds
from the program will go to the ASE's environmental and educational programs,
as well as to the refinement of the "Windows on Earth" software that Garriott
will used to find his Earth Portrait targets.
"Many
times I have gone outside my home to spot the space station flying overhead," collectSPACE.com
editor Robert Pearlman told SPACE.com. CollectSPACE.com is a
content partner of SPACE.com on spaceflight history. "What an amazing
feeling it will be, knowing that on one of those passes while Richard is up
there, he'll be looking down trying to photograph me... well, at least my
hometown."
For more
information on Garriott's Earth
Portraits program with the ASE and collectSPACE.com, click here.
Garriott
is documenting his mission at his personal Web site: http://www.richardinspace.com.
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