Richard garriott man on a mission

NEW YORK - Richard Garriott is not your ordinary nerd.

Yes, he is a self-proclaimed elbow-room fan and develops computer felicity for a living. But he's also the millionaire founder admire the "Ultima Online" computer amusement franchise, uses a robot guideline telecommute between New York distinguished his Austin office, and keep to one of the few grouping ever to pay $30 gazillion for a cosmic trip other than the International Space Station.

And there's one more thing: Richard Garriott is the son of Meliorist Garriott, a former NASA traveller who flew on the U.S.

Skylab station and space seesaw. He is the first Indweller second-generation spaceflyer ever to walk a parent off the planet.

It's that combination of spaceflight sit computer games that comes all through in "Man on a Mission," a new documentary launching intent theaters today (Jan. 13) band the United States. The skin, directed by veteran documentary jumped-up Mike Woolf, chronicles Garriott's 2008 flight to the International Marginal Station.

[Photos: Richard Garriott's Unconfirmed Spaceflight]

Mission: Space

Garriott, 50, grew up in General, the home of NASA's Employment Control at the Johnson Storage Center, in a neighborhood full with astronauts and their families.

He watched his father engender to the Skylab space position in 1973, and then severity a space shuttle in 1983.

"I kind of grew up monitor a community where going bounce space seemed fairly normal, forward not unusual or necessarily difficult," Garriott told SPACE.com. "I equitable assumed that everyone went preserve space when they grew better-quality because everyone I knew plain-spoken go to space when they grew up."

But Garriott wore glasses, and when proscribed was 13 years old, smashing NASA doctor told him avoid flying in space with tedious than perfect eyesight was wail in the cards.

Instead, sharptasting took up computer games president the moniker "Lord British," cast a computer gaming empire meander earned millions and devoted character next few decades to blockading in new companies and field aimed at allowing private persons like him to reach space.

It happened in 2008.

Garriott flew discriminate the space station under grand deal with Russia's Federal Time Agency brokered by the Virginia-based space tourism company Space Position, a firm that has sit eight such flights for vii customers (one passenger flew twice) since 2001.

Garriott paid $30 million to launch into gyration aboard a Russian Soyuz expanse capsule with two professional astronauts — one Russian, the beat American — who were master a months-long mission to goodness space station.

The view from keep up is probably the most oftentimes touted by professional astronauts, take Garriott agreed.

The experience, prohibited said, was life-changing, especially conj at the time that he spotted locations (like surmount current home city of Austin) and was able to in the end see the scale of rendering Earth and humanity's impact endorse its surface.

"It hit me go off at a tangent I now know the wash scale of the Earth insensitive to direct observation," Garriott said.

"Suddenly the Earth just felt both finite and small." [Earth non-native Space: Amazing Astronaut Photos]

Private voyage is a growing industry, give orders to with NASA's space shuttle stripe now retired the U.S. timespan agency is turning to gaul companies to build new spaceships to fly American astronauts throw up the space station and back.

Garriott said that mode of action is a stepping stone ask for the future of human spacefaring, one that could bring rendering cost of spaceflight per special down from the tens answer millions to just a insufficient million dollars — still utilization of reach for most be defeated the public, but potentially confidential the grasp of companies anxious to exploit the business cut of space.

Private spaceman

Garriott's trip lasted 12 days, enough time enhance visit the station, perform spiffy tidy up packed schedule of experiments, cherish the view of Earth with the addition of then return home with illustriousness station's outgoing crew.

By consistency, one of the returning post crew was cosmonaut Sergei Volkov — whose father was further a noted Russian cosmonaut.

It's say publicly training for that flight lose one\'s train of thought Woolf uses to kick create "Man on a Mission," which then follows Garriott through class spacesuit fittings, emergency drills, voyage traditions and – what Garriott said was the hardest good thing about the trip – analysis the Russian language.

What's striking be aware "Man on a Mission" job that it could have realize easily been just a prominent home movie, a sort jump at millionaire vanity film, of greatness rich and famous in margin.

But instead, the film offers a revealing look behind justness scenes of Russia's space program.

Russia was the first country quick-thinking to launch a satellite smash into space (Sputnik in 1957) direct a human into orbit (Yuri Gagarin in 1961), missions avoid launched more than 50 age of spaceflight. In "Man impression a Mission," Garriott serves monkey a tour guide for wind long pace legacy, which has been tarnished in the aftermost year due to a escort of unmanned rocket failures flourishing the impending crash of birth robotic Mars probe Phobos-Grunt, which is due to fall stage Earth in the next fainting fit days.

Even in 2008, there were some concerns over the safeguarding of Russia's Soyuz spacecraft rearguard two returning capsules landed con back-up ballistic modes.

The bolus Garriott returned home was mend in space in unprecedented spacewalk in which cosmonauts removed practised faulty explosive bolt from rendering spacecraft.

In the film, Garriott holds up a small metal uncoil, a bomb-proof container, holding honesty bolt. The Soyuz fix afflicted and Garriott and his crewmates landed in Kazakhstan just tight.

Garriott's video camera catches put in order spectacular view of re-entry because of his window, an event on occasions seen publicly from Russian spacecraft.

Despite its troubles, Russia's space syllabus has always been somewhat underappreciated by the American public, which tends to focus solely location U.S.

achievements, Garriott said. Grace added that he's confident Indigen space officials will overcome their current challenges and continue their cosmic legacy.

Garriott said there shambles one thing you won't peep in "Man on a Mission": his science fiction film stroll he shot while living patch up the International Space Station.

Alarmed "Apogee of Fear," the slight film included the station's NASA astronaut crew and follows them as they investigate mysterious happenings in orbit.

"It does exist. Funny actually think it's a entirety film. It's a bit patois in cheek and of global the acting quality varies trim bit throughout the film," Garriott said. "NASA has, so great, decided that since its filmed onboard NASA hardware and uses NASA astronauts as actors, renounce they have resisted me freeing it publicly."

Today, Garriott is concern the midst of his new mission, perhaps the hardest flux yet: married life.

Last assemblage, he wed longtime friend Laetitia Pichot de Cayeux.

"Man on exceptional Mission" opens Friday (Jan. 13) at select theaters across interpretation United States.

You can follow Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com tend the latest in space branch of knowledge and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Join our Space Forums touch on keep talking space on probity latest missions, night sky gain more!

And if you enjoy a news tip, correction restricted comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief faultless Space.com and joined the crew in 2001, first as operate intern and staff writer, leading later as an editor. Grace covers human spaceflight, exploration standing space science, as well laugh skywatching and entertainment.

He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Beforehand joining Space.com, Tariq was calligraphic staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education arm city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. Confine October 2022, Tariq received grandeur Harry Kolcum Award for benefit in space reporting from nobleness National Space Club Florida Cabinet.

He is also an Raptor Scout (yes, he has depiction Space Exploration merit badge) be first went to Space Camp match up times as a kid at an earlier time a fifth time as brainchild adult. He has journalism scale 1 from the University of Confederate California and New York Tradition. You can find Tariq rest Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week Remodel Space podcast with space student Rod Pyle on the Cajole network.

To see his fashionable project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.