The first time just wasn't enough, so billionaire Charles
Simonyi is going back to space.
The first two-time
space tourist is set to make his second trip to the International Space
Station next week. He plans to launch March 26 aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
As part of a $35 million
deal brokered by U.S. firm Space Adventures, Simonyi is paying the Russian
Federal Space Agency to ride along with cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and NASA
astronaut Michael Barratt, who are set to become the station's new Expedition
19 crew.
Simonyi, a former Microsoft software executive, skipped
ahead of others on the waiting list for trips to space by paying an extra $5
million to be part of Space Adventures' Orbital Missions Explorers Circle, an elite club
with priority access to flights.
Simonyi is signed up for a 12-day mission to perform
research on bone density loss and lower-back pain in space, to work on
Earth-observation studies, and to communicate with students and space
enthusiasts via Ham radio. Many of his science activities will be collaborations
with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Hungarian Space Office. He plans
to blog about the experience at his Web site, www.charlesinspace.com.
"I'm honored to return to the
ISS and excited to conduct scientific experiments for the European Space
Agency and for other national space organizations," Simonyi said. "I
also hope my mission inspires young people all over the world to pursue science
and engineering careers."
Simonyi first traveled to space in April 2007 on a 13-day
trip to the ISS that made him the fifth person ever to pay for a ticket to
the orbiting laboratory.
Born in Hungary, Simonyi has been a space enthusiast for
most of his life, and is an avid pilot. He now heads a company he founded, the
Intentional Software Corp. He said he hopes his trips to space serve to expand
the possibilities for future private space exploration.
"I feel my efforts are
helping to open the space frontier to private travel," Simonyi said.
"Just like all industries, it takes commitment and investment from a few
key organizations and customers in order to open it to a larger market. Each
time Space Adventures launches an orbital explorer, like myself, we are one
step closer to making this dream a reality for others."
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