William Atkins
Wednesday, 24 September 2008 23:02
Science -
Space
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British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has announced that his digitalized DNA will fly to the International Space Station in October 2008 as a way to highlight the Archon X-PRIZE for Genomics, a project for promoting the sequencing of the human genome to better identify, treat, and prevent diseases.
The NCsoft project called
Operation Immortality, according to its website,
“is a project to collect and archive the very best of what humanity is and has accomplished. On October 12, 2008, Richard Garriott, famed video game designer and the first second generation American astronaut, will take digitized DNA and human accomplishments with him to store in outer space when he journeys to the International Space Station.”
NSsoft is a South Korean-based online game software developer, which has produced such games as Guild Wars and Lineage.
Going up with
Richard Garriott on Soyuz TMA-13 (space station designation: ISS 17S) are Russian cosmonaut and ISS Expedition 18 commander Yuri Lonchakov and United States astronaut and ISS Expedition 18 flight engineer Michael Finche.
The flight is scheduled to launch on October 12, 2008, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the country of Kazakhstan. The specific launch time is 3:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), or 0701 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Garriott is flying as a spaceflight participant of the Russian Federal Space Agency (
RSA) through a space tourist program operated by U.S. based
Space Adventures.
Garriott is the famous video game developer (such games as Tabula Rasa) and member of the board of trustees for the X-PRIZE Foundation.
Dr. Hawking stated,
“Richard and I share the same dream of traveling into space. And we both realize the incredible importance of DNA to life in the universe.” [X PRIZE Foundation: “
Stephen Hawking Sending DNA into Space to Promote the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics”]
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