Richard Garriott, son of former NASA Skylab and Spacelab-1 astronaut, Owen Garriott, will become the sixth space tourist when he flies a mission this month with Space Adventures. Richard Garriott will fly a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station where he will conduct experiments in engineering, science and education.
Some of the experiments Garriott will conduct will involve protein crystallization as they relate to human diseases. Space Adventures is also seeking other commercial experiments for Gariott to conduct as well.
Garriott is well-known as a video game pioneer, programmer and designer and early investor in the Zero G Corporation that has flown over 2,500 private citizen at high altitude to experience zero gravity. Richard Garriott is also a self-admitted adventure junkie who has taken a submersible to the Titanic, tracked down mountain gorillas in Africa and traveled the Antarctic.
Richard has started a blog on his website, which he will presumable update with his adventures. You can also ask Richard a question about his mission and perhaps even win a free Space Tourists Handbook just for filling out a short survey. Good luck and Godspeed, Richard Garriott.
