Energy News  
Software Pioneer Signs To Become Fifth Space Tourist

Software developer Charles Simonyi is now training to become the next paying visitor to the International Space Station. Image credit: Space Adventures Ltd.
by Staff Writers
Vienna VA (SPX) Apr 05, 2006
Space Adventures Ltd. said late Monday it has contracted with Charles Simonyi for a future flight to the International Space Station. The company, which has organized previous flights to the station for entrepreneurs and private space passengers Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth and Greg Olsen, said Simonyi already has completed his preliminary training and medical examinations as part of the program's qualification process.

Simonyi, 57, was born in Hungary and moved to the United States in 1968 to attend the University of California, Berkeley. He joined Microsoft in 1981, and oversaw development of two of the company's most popular software products: Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. In 2002, he co-founded his own firm, Intentional Software, in Bellvue, Wash., and serves as its president and chief executive officer.

"I have always dreamed of the wonder of spaceflight and the exploration of space has always inspired me," Simonyi said. "I am very much in favor of commercial space travel, which promises to advance technology just like commercial aviation did many years ago."

Space Adventures organizes spaceflights under agreement with Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and with Energia, a private Russian rocket and space firm. Earlier this year, Daisuke ("Dice-K") Enomoto began cosmonaut preparations at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, for his planned expedition to the ISS next September.

"Mr. Simonyi is a true visionary, one of the leading technology entrepreneurs in the world," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. "He is also a seasoned pilot and very knowledgeable about aerospace technology and aviation."

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Space Adventures
Roscosmos
Station at NASA
Intentional Software
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Top Microsoft Programmer Signs Up For Space Mission
Moscow (AFP) Apr 04, 2006
A leading US programmer who helped develop Microsoft programmes has signed up for a mission to space in 2007, the Russian space agency said Monday. "A preliminary contract with (Charles) Simonyi was signed for spring 2007," Alexei Krasnov, an official from Roskosmos, was quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency as saying.







  • New Processing Steps Promise More Economical Ethanol Production
  • New Bioproducts Research Centre Will Help Industry Create Forest Biorefinery
  • Common Clays Investigated For Use As High Tech Environmental Catalysts
  • The Challenge Of Fueling The Chinese Replicator

  • Blair Indicates Possible Future Switch To Nuclear Power
  • US Regulators Shaped Nuclear Security To Industry Tastes
  • Malawi Urged To Protect Its Forests
  • Australia And China Poised To Sign Uranium Deal

  • The 'Oxygen Imperative'
  • NASA Studies Air Pollution Flowing Into US From Abroad
  • Carbon Balance Killed The Dinos
  • Earth's Turbulence Stirs Things Up Slower Than Expected

  • Alaska Timber Projection Study Reveals Market Trends
  • China Playing Central Role To Laundering Stolen Timber
  • US, Japan, Europe Drive Chinese Imports Of Illegal Wood
  • Amazon 2050: Implementing Law Could Save Massive Area Of Rainforest

  • Plants Give Pests A Sock In The Gut
  • Changes In Agricultural Practices Could Help Slow Global warming
  • Brazilian Farming Will Doom 40 Percent Of Amazon
  • Scientists A Step Closer To Protecting World's Most Important Crop

  • Highly Realistic Driving Simulator Helps Develop Safer Cars
  • Research On The Road To Intelligent Cars
  • Volvo Promises Hybrid Truck Engines Within Three Years
  • Carbon Fiber Cars Could Put US On Highway To Efficiency

  • DaimlerChrysler And Lagardere Cut Stake In EADS
  • Lockheed Martin Delivers F-22 Raptor To Second Operational Squadron
  • CAESAR Triumphs As New Gen Of Radar Takes Flight
  • Northrop Grumman to Provide F-16 Fleet To Greek Air Force

  • Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear
  • NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter
  • Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission
  • Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement