Russian spacecraft takes American tourist into orbit

Sunday’s blast off, at 11:01am Moscow time, took place without any significant problems, as the Soyuz began the 18th expedition to the ISS.

American space tourist Richard Garriott is accompanied by Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke. 
 
Garriott made his fortune in online gaming as a designer, programmer and producer. Back in the 1980s he was behind the success of the cult Ultima Online series. He is also responsible for such hits as Lineage and Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle. His latest project is Tabula Rasa.

The 47-year-old is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who has made two flights into orbit. He has paid $US 30 million to follow in his father’s footsteps by going to space. Garriott will stay at the station for 12 days.

The space tourist is going to perform several experiments on the orbit. The most important of them involves protein crystal growth. He’s also planning to lecture from space and make video and photo shootings.

The other crew members will stay on the ISS for a longer period of time as they are planning to return to Earth in April 2009. On of their main tasks is to prepare the station to house a six-member crew. They are also going to test a new version of a space helmet designed in Russia.

Soyuz spacecraft gets ready for 100th mission 
Tourist and crew ready for blast-off
American space ‘dynasty’ member heads for cosmodrome
Space tourist to follow his father into orbit
Congress approves funding Russian Space Agency