Simonyi schedules second space sortie

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 06:06

Science - Space

Former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi is planning a second trip into space.

Simonyi joined Microsoft in 1981, and led the development of Multiplan, Word and Excel. Multiplan was so successful that Bill Gates once said it brought in enough revenue to keep Microsoft running.

Like others that joined Microsoft in the early days, stock options made Simonyi rich, and he used some of his fortune to become the world's fifth 'space tourist' in early 2007.

Space Adventures, the company that arranges for privately-funded individuals to join Russian space missions, has announced that Simonyi now intends to train with the Soyuz TMA-14 crew.

TMA-14 is scheduled to launch on March 25, 2009. The other two members of the Soyuz crew heading for the International Space Station will be Gennady Padalka and Michael Barratt.

The ISS Expedition 19 crew will also comprise Timothy Kopra, Nicole Stott, Yuri Lonchakov, Frank De Winne and Robert Thirsk, who will fly to the station on subsequent Space Shuttle and Soyuz missions.

It seems likely that Simonyi would return to Earth aboard the STS-128 shuttle mission.

There may not be many more chances for space tourism in the next five or six years unless private spacecraft come into service in that timeframe. Find out why on page two.