http://n.yam.com/afp/life/200904/20090408887059.html
美太空遊客席孟義乘聯合號太空船安返地面  
法新社╱張佑之 2009-04-08 20:50    
 
 
（法新社莫斯科8日電）俄羅斯任務管制中心說，載有美國太空遊客席孟義（Charles Simonyi）和兩名專業太空人的俄國聯合號（Soyuz）太空船，今天在哈薩克降落。

任務管制中心發言人林丁（Valery Lyndine）在俄國電視台的評論中說：「根據搜索小組回報，太空船降落在計畫中地區，全體人員感覺正常。」

林丁在接受法新社電話訪問時說，聯合號是在格林威治時間7時15分降落在哈薩克西北部草原上的貝康諾（Baikonour）太空中心，這也是聯合號3月26日的升空位置。

與席孟義一同返回地球的是俄國太空人羅恩恰可夫（Yuri Lonchakov）和美國太空人芬克（MichaelFincke）。

席孟義出生在匈牙利，曾擔任微軟公司（Microsoft）主管，他為此次10天太空之旅支付了3500萬美元（2800萬歐元）費用。他在降落後受到瑞典籍女友熱情擁抱，這位女友是搭乘直昇機前往貝康諾太空中心。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090408/ts_alt_afp/russiausspace_20090408125622
Two-time space tourist returns to Earth

by Alissa de Carbonnel

MOSCOW (AFP) – US millionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi shared a kiss with his wife in the Kazakh steppe after returning safely to Earth on Wednesday after an unprecedented second tour in orbit.

Simonyi, who made his fortune pioneering Microsoft software, bumped back to Earth at 0715 GMT with two professional astronauts in the Russian Soyuz capsule, a spokesman for the mission control centre told AFP.

"According to the search group, the space capsule landed in the planned area. All of the cosmonauts are feeling normal," a mission spokesman said in comments on Russia's Vesti 24 television.

Travelling back to Earth with 60-year-old Simonyi -- the first person to travel into space twice as a tourist -- were Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov and US astronaut Michael Fincke.

"Here's the Earth!" Fincke cried repeatedly in Russian as the ground recovery team arrived, adding to NASA colleagues on the ground in English: "It's so nice to see you."

Still in space suits and wrapped in blue thermal blankets, the crew were shown on live national television smiling and undergoing initial medical examinations from deck chairs set out in the field by the landing site.

Hungarian-born Simonyi, who paid 35 million dollars (28 million euros) for his 10-day space tour, was seen receiving a warm embrace from his 29-year-old Swedish wife, Lisa Persdotter, who travelled by helicopter to the site.

His return to Earth from the International Space Station had been pushed back by a day after the initial landing site was found to be unsuitable, reportedly due to boggy ground.

But the crew was spared the hours-long wait that other Soyuz missions have undergone after those landings went off course and recovery teams scrambled to reach them in the vast Central Asian steppe near Baikonour Cosmodrome.

Search groups "were able to discover the craft while it was still at a height of 1,000 meters" (3,280 feet), cheered Alexander Verednikov, deputy head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos.

Roskosmos head Anatoly Perminov dubbed the 18th ISS mission "very productive, energetic."

"This is what sustained the good health of the crew during the flight... The mission fulfilled all its assignments and carried out many important scientific experiments," he added at a joint press conference with NASA officials.

"I want to congratulate the entire team. I think we learned today how to keep our astronauts healthy and looking good on Earth," a NASA official responded.

Perminov confirmed, however, that Simonyi was likely the agency's last space tourist for some time.

Asked if Russia intended to stop accommodating space tourists, he replied: "Yes, unfortunately." Any future resumption of the programme would depend on requirements for servicing the ISS.

Space on Soyuz launches is set to become tight when the number of crew routinely aboard the ISS doubles from three to six next month and after the United States suspends its own missions to the station from 2010.

Russia's space tourism partnership with US company Space Adventures, which also organised Simonyi's début trio in April 2007, has provided a welcome boost to funding for its space programme since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

http://n.yam.com/afp/life/200903/20090329471916.html
載運觀光客俄國太空船 與國際太空站接合  
法新社╱陳政一 2009-03-29 01:05    

 
（法新社莫斯科28日電）俄羅斯媒體報導，位於莫斯科附近的地面控制中心表示，俄國聯合號（Soyuz）太空船已與國際太空站（ISS）接合。太空船上載有二度遊覽太空的美國企業家席孟義（Charles Simonyi），以及美國太空人和俄羅斯太空人各一位。

控制中心發言人林汀（Valery Lyndin）告訴國際傳真社（Interfax），在檢查確定太空船與國際太空站間的密封艙沒有漏氣後，雙方的人員才會會合。

他表示，自動接合程序無法運作，此次是靠手動接合。他說，這並不是罕見的事。

他預料聯合號太空船人員將於接合後三個小時，即格林威治時間16時10分左右進入國際太空站。

60歲的美國軟體先驅席孟義是兩度以觀光客身分遊歷太空的第一人，他此次旅行支付了3500萬美元。

他前次旅行到國際太空站是2007年4月，成為少數能遊歷太空的富裕平民之一，這些太空觀光客大多來自美國。（譯者：陳政一）

http://n.yam.com/afp/life/200903/20090326393172.html
世界第一人 微軟開國元老席孟義二度遊太空  
法新社╱蔡和穎 2009-03-26 23:35     

 
（法新社哈薩克貝康諾26日電）美國軟體研發先驅席孟義（Charles Simonyi）今天搭乘俄羅斯太空船飛往國際太空站（ISS），成為史上二度遊歷太空的第一人。

席孟義與美、俄兩國太空人在格林威治時間今天上午11時49分，於哈薩克貝康諾（Baikonur）太空站搭乘俄國聯合號太空船升空。

程式設計師席孟義早期是微軟的幕後重要推手之一。這次他參加俄羅斯太空觀光旅遊計畫二度升空，上次他的太空之旅是在2007年4月。

他在升空數秒後告訴地面控制中心：「我覺得太棒了，我現在正注視著地球。」畫面在俄羅斯電視台同步播出。

俄羅斯太空總署發言人沃羅比耶夫（Aleksandr Vorobyev）告訴國際傳真社（Interfax News Agency ）：「發射過程相當順利，太空船已進入地球軌道。」

席孟義為這趟旅程付出3500萬美元，雖然他已不再名列美國富比士雜誌今年的世界富豪排行榜。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090326/sc_afp/russiausspaceisstourism3rdlead_20090326161955
US software tycoon makes space history

by Amelie Herenstein

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – US software pioneer Charles Simonyi on Thursday became the first person to travel twice to space as a tourist, as he blasted off to the International Space Station (ISS).

Simonyi, 60, along with an American and a Russian astronaut, was launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket at 11:49 GMT from the Baikonur cosmodrome on the Kazakh steppe, in what could be the last space tourist trip for some time.

"I feel great and I am looking at the Earth," he told mission control in Russian after lift-off, as his wife, Swedish millionaire's daughter Lisa Persdotter, tearfully joined the cheers on the ground.

Simonyi, one of the brains behind Bill Gates' Microsoft, paid 35 million dollars (28 million euros) for the voyage, despite no longer being counted a billionaire in a ranking by the US magazine Forbes.

He previously travelled to the space station in April 2007, becoming one of a select group of wealthy civilians, most of them from the United States, to have pioneered space tourism.

The launch comes as Moscow is doubling the number of manned space launches to meet the needs of the expanding space station, with a second launch due in May.

The head of Russian space agency Rosksomos, Anatoly Perminov, said that for a period it could be the last time a space tourist would be taken on board due to increased demand on the programme, but had high praise for Russian-US space cooperation.

Thursday's launch went smoothly and the flare from the spacecraft's rockets could be seen gradually disappearing into the sky before it reached low-Earth orbit a few minutes after lift-off.

The professional spacemen on the flight are Russian Gennady Padalka, who is to become the space station's commander, and American Michael Barratt, who takes over as flight engineer.

Perminov hailed what he described as a new era in US-Russian space cooperation, echoing the upbeat tone of the countries' leaders following the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

He confirmed that Russia plans to double the number of manned launches to the space station this year to four to support an expansion of the station's science programme.

"Almost as soon as the Cold War finished it was decided by our countries' political leaderships to carry out great projects together. Now a new era is starting in our cooperation.

"In space cooperation between our countries there will be even more great projects, maybe future flights to asteroids, to other planets, to Mars.

"Everything is possible. It all depends on the political will of our countries' leaderships," said Perminov.

He noted that two new space laboratories are to begin work at the space station, which orbits at about 350 kilometres (220 miles) above the Earth.

One is Japan's Kibo module, planned for astronomical experiments, and the other is the European Space Agency's Columbus module.

Russia is due to become the main provider of human flights to the space station in the next few years as the United States plans to take its space shuttles out of service and is still working on a replacement.

In Thursday's launch, the Soyuz rocket hurtled into space at speeds of around 13,400 miles per hour, or 22,000 kilometres per hour, subjecting its passengers to huge gravitational forces.

Simonyi is to spend 10 days aboard the station before returning to Earth with two current crew members, while Barratt and Padalka are to remain for six months.

It takes two days on the journey to the space station due to the need for efficient use of fuel.

The launch pad used on Thursday was the same used in the first ever human space flight, that of Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin in 1961.

Space Adventures, the American company that arranged Simonyi's flight, said it was planning with Russian authorities to carry out the first space launch exclusively for paying tourists in 2011.

http://n.yam.com/afp/life/200903/20090325340464.html
Word軟體之父席孟義將2度成為太空觀光客  
法新社╱賴秀如 2009-03-25 13:35     
 
 
（法新社哈薩克貝康諾24日電）被譽為「Word軟體之父」的美國電腦工程師席孟義 (Charles Simonyi)，即將在26日成為史上第一位兩度上太空旅行的觀光客。這兩趟下來總共花掉他6000萬美元。

　格林威治標準時間26日11時49分，席孟義將從俄羅斯在哈薩克的貝康諾太空站發射升空，陪同的還有美國和俄羅斯各一名專業太空人。

　席孟義在自己創業前曾是微軟公司早期的軟體工程師，他這趟太空旅行花了3500萬美元，和2007年4月的第一趟2500萬美元相較之下，漲價不少。

　但是在貝康諾太空中心做最後準備的席孟義，還是興奮期待太空船和國際太空站 (ISS)接合的那一刻，還說他希望第二趟比第一趟更好玩。

　他說到那種感覺：「基本上你身處虛無飄渺，遠離一切，而你碰觸到這個奇妙的人造物，看起來細緻又脆弱。」他指的是國際太空站。　　他說，「我沒後悔，因為這太棒了。我希望這次會比上次更好玩，我認為這次是繼續第一趟的行程。」

　在兩趟太空旅行之間，席孟義發生了許多事。當他成為世界上第5位上太空旅行的觀光客時，正和美國生活達人瑪莎司徒華 (Martha Stewart)約會，瑪莎親自到發射基地溫馨送行。

　但是現年60歲的席孟義後來娶了瑞典百萬富翁的女兒麗莎‧普斯多特爾 (Lisa Persdotter)，她對太空旅行興趣缺缺。

　席孟義說，「當然我邀請老婆同行，但她不想去。我想，這可能還是有點技術性，太困難了。但她現在正在學開直升機，所以嘛，一步一步來。」

　他還說他的新婚妻子禁止他第3度上太空旅行。而再上太空的可能性在短期內應該不會升高，因為俄羅斯太空官員已經表示，席孟義這趟太空之旅，可能是這類旅行的最後一次。

　今年5月，國際太空站的太空人將增加1倍到6個人，因此需要佔用到原先提供給太空觀光客的舖位。席孟義這趟旅行將是全球太空觀光客第7次上太空。

　他說，「第一趟時，我很緊張，但這趟我比較不緊張，因為我完全清楚會發生什麼事，每一個步驟都清清楚楚。」

　出生於共產黨執政時期的匈牙利，席孟義在十幾歲的時候就已經是1名電腦工程師。13歲的時候，他以小太空人的身分代表匈牙利，甚至贏得一趟到莫斯科與世界第一位太空人見面的旅行。

　他進入社會開始在一家科技公司擔任夜間巡邏人，但他說當時他最大的企圖心就是「離開匈牙利，移居到西方國家。」　　20歲的時候，他如願申請到著名的加州大學柏克萊分校，主修工程和數學。

　從1981年開始，他邁向致富之路。當時一家名不見經傳，叫做「微軟」（Microsoft）的小資訊科技公司雇用了他，他協助設計發展了微軟指標性基準應用程式Word和Excel。

　後來席孟義取得美國公民身分，在2002年辭掉微軟的工作，自己創辦「國際軟體」(International Software)公司。

　美國民營「太空探險」 (Space Adventures )公司所招攬的太空觀光旅遊計畫，在前蘇聯垮台後，已經十分受歡迎地為俄羅斯太空計畫帶進額外收入來源。

　席孟義將在國際太空站離開陪同他的美國太空人巴拉特 (Michael Barratt)和俄羅斯太空人帕達卡(Gennady Padalka)，然後在4月6日回到地球，結束為期12天的旅程。

　在太空的時候，他會以自身經驗，為歐洲和匈牙利太空部門提供太空旅行對人體影響的心得。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090324/sc_afp/russiausspaceisstourism_20090324230244
US tourist ready for second trip to space

by Amelie Herenstein Amelie Herenstein – Tue Mar 24, 10:37 am ET
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) – US software pioneer Charles Simonyi should on Thursday become the first person in history to travel into space twice as a tourist, in trips costing a total of 60 million dollars.

Simonyi will blast off for the International Space Station (ISS) at 1149 GMT from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome deep in the Kazakh steppe, along with a professional astronaut and cosmonaut.

The software programmer, who was one of the pioneers of Microsoft before founding his own firm, has paid a cool 35 million dollars for the trip, a significant rise from the 25 million dollars he paid for the April 2007 visit.

But making the final preparations for the trip, Simonyi in Baikonur spoke with passion about the moment the spacecraft docks with the ISS and said he expected the latest voyage to be even better than the first visit.

"You are basically nowhere, far from everything and you reach this fantastic manmade object. It looks very fragile," he said, referring to the ISS.

"I didn't regret, it was fantastic, I hope it will be even better this time. I think it's a continuation of the first trip."

Some things have changed in his life since then. When Simonyi became the fifth person to go to space as a tourist, he was going out with US lifestyle queen Martha Stewart, who gave him an emotional send-off at the cosmodrome.

But Symonyi, 60, has since married Swedish millionaire's daughter Lisa Persdotter who it seems is less keen on space travel than he is.

"I certainly offered her but she does not want to go. I think it's still a little bit technical, too difficult. But she is learning to fly a helicopter. So step by step."

He has also said his new wife has banned him from making a third trip to space, a possibility that may not arise in the near future as Russian space officials have said his trip could be the final such voyage.

The berth for the space tourists will be needed by cosmonauts and astronauts when the crew of the ISS is doubled to six people in May. Symonyi's trip will be the seventh time a tourist has gone into space.

"I really was nervous the first time and if anything I'm less nervous now because I know exactly what is going to happen, all the steps," he said.

Born in Communist-ruled Hungary, Simonyi was already a computer programmer in his teens and at the age of 13 he represented Hungary as a junior cosmonaut, even winning a trip to Moscow to meet one of the first cosmonauts.

He started working as the night watchman in a technology company but has said his greatest ambition had been "to get out of Hungary and emigrate to the West".

He succeeded at the age of 20 when he enrolled in the prestigious University of California-Berkeley and studied engineering and mathematics.

His path to fortune was laid in 1981, when he was hired by a little known information technology firm called Microsoft and helped design their benchmark Word and Excel programmes.

Simonyi later received US citizenship, and in 2002 quit Microsoft to found his own firm, Intentional Software.

The space tourism initiative, which is run by private US company Space Adventures, has provided a welcome additional source of income for the Russian space programme after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Simonyi will leave his crew of fellow American Michael Barratt and Russian Gennady Padalka at the ISS and return to Earth on April 6 after a 12 day mission.

While in space, he will conduct experiments for the European and Hungarian Space agencies to assess the impact of space travel on the human body.

http://n.yam.com/afp/entertain/200903/20090306594509.html
太空之旅漲價1000萬美元 美科技大亨不在乎  
法新社╱何世煌 2009-03-06 10:20     

 
（法新社俄羅斯星市5日電）美國電腦軟體大亨席孟義（Charles Simonyi）今天表示，不在意俄羅斯調高他參加太空之旅的費用，並說太空觀光是未來必走的道路。

席孟義是美國微軟公司（Microsoft）崛起的幕後功臣之一，他表示為了3月26日的太空之旅，付出3500萬美元（2800萬歐元）很值得，相較於他2007年第一次飛進太空付出2500萬美元，足足漲了1000萬美元。

席孟義在莫斯科附近的星市（Star City）訓練中心告訴記者：「錢是花在太空探索上... 俄羅斯是全球唯一提供這些服務的國家。」

他補充說：「我認為太空觀光或許是載人太空飛行唯一可行的商業經營模式。」

席孟義將從俄羅斯的貝康諾（Baikonur）太空中心升空，飛往國際太空站（International SpaceStation），展開太空之旅，全程11天，預定4月6日返回地球。

俄羅斯已經宣佈，這是最後一次收費太空觀光之旅，原因是主要太空研究夥伴美國及其他國家施壓，指稱運送太空人進入宇宙的坐位有限。

詢及為何他再度參加太空之旅，席孟義表示，他希望改進自己的技巧。

他逗留太空期間，計畫進行多項實驗並與地球上的學生透過無線電通話。

席孟義與美國生活大師瑪莎史都華（MarthaStewart）分手之後，最近方與瑞典富家千金柏斯多特（Lisa Persdotter）結為連理，他表示為了婚姻，已經放棄第三度飛進太空的念頭。

他說：「我訂婚之前就決定要第二次太空旅行，我與妻子達成協議，我只能再飛一次，所以我沒辦法有第三次太空之旅。我太太堅決反對。」

http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR4/4584696.shtml
智利計劃將電視臺主持人送入太空
 
【新華社╱聖地亞哥11月2日電】 2008.11.03 10:43 am
 
 
智利國家電視臺計劃在2010年將該電視臺主持人湯卡·托米西克送入太空，使其成為第一名遨遊太空的智利女性。

據智利國家電視臺報導，該臺已與推出太空遊項目的英國維珍銀河公司達成一項協議，計劃在2010年將一名智利人送入太空。智利著名節目主持人、國家電視臺當家花旦托米西克有幸成為唯一候選人。

根據維珍銀河公司的太空遊計劃，將遊客送上太空的航天器由母船和太空船兩部分組成，每次可搭乘5名遊客和2名駕駛員。每次太空旅行，母船將首先攜帶太空船飛到距地面1.5萬米處，太空船隨即脫離母船，在90秒內上升到距地面110公里處，並在太空逗留4至6分鐘。遊客不僅可以欣賞太空美景，還可體驗失重的奇妙感覺。

這樣一次太空之旅的費用是每人20萬美元，首批遊客可望於2009年下半年或2010年年初進入太空。俄羅斯聯邦航天局於2000年首次推出太空遊業務。不久前美國人理查德·加裏奧特作為迄今為止第六位太空遊客乘坐俄載人飛船前往國際空間站，他為這次太空遨遊支付了3000萬美元。

【2008/11/03 新華社】

http://n.yam.com/afp/entertain/200810/20081024783444.html
俄羅斯太空船降落哈薩克 美太空觀光客平安  
法新社╱何世煌 2008-10-24 12:50    
 
 
（法新社莫斯科二十四日電）俄羅斯任務控制中心今天上午表示，搭載美國電玩業百萬富豪賈里奧特與兩名俄羅斯太空人的聯合號太空船如期降落在哈薩克。賈里奧特是全球第六位太空觀光客。

任務控制中心發言人林汀告訴法新社：「這支團隊報告說他們感覺良好。」他補充說，太空船降落時，有一架直升機伴護。

 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081024/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_us_space;_ylt=AkzHQ0Nzzd35DK0Za2kp_XgPLBIF
American, Russians return from space station

By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer Steve Gutterman, Associated Press Writer – 16 mins ago

MOSCOW – A Soyuz capsule carrying an American and two Russians touched down on target in Kazakhstan on Friday after a descent from the international space station, safely delivering the first two men to follow their fathers into space.

The Soyuz TMA-12 capsule landed at 9:37 a.m. local time, about 55 miles north of Arkalyk in north-central Kazakhstan, Russian Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin told The Associated Press.

Search and recovery crews buzzed in on Mi-8 helicopters and extracted Richard Garriott, Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko from the gumdrop-shaped capsule, which landed on its side on the brushy surface under a clear sky.

"What a great ride that was," said Garriott, an American computer game designer who paid some $30 million for a 10-day stay on the space station.

Sitting in an armchair and wrapped in a blue blanket against the near-freezing temperature on the steppe, he smiled broadly.

"This is obviously a pinnacle experience," Garriott said in footage on Russian and NASA TV.

Garriott was greeted by his father Owen Garriott, a retired NASA astronaut who flew on a the U.S. space station Skylab in 1973.

"Hey, Papa-san," said Richard Garriott. The pair shook hands.

"I'm looking forward to some fresh food and to calling my loved ones," said Garriott, 47, who lives in Austin, Texas. He was seen off by his girlfriend and bother, among others, when he rocketed up to the station on another Soyuz craft on Oct. 12.

"I've got my father here, but I've got other family back home I want to get a hold of."

Volkov sat next to Garriott. The son of a cosmonaut, he beat out Garriott as the first human being to follow a parent into space when he flew up to the space station six months ago. Kononenko, who also spent 199 days in space, was the last out of the capsule and could not be seen in the footage.

The head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov, said on state-run Vesti-24 television that Kononenko had a tougher time than his crew mates during the descent but "feels good now." It was the first space mission for all three men.

The uneventful descent was a relief for space officials — and the crew — after "ballistic re-entries" put the last two crews returning from the station hundreds of miles off course and subjected them to stronger gravitational force than usual.

The separation of the modules of the Soyuz before it entered the atmosphere went without a hitch, avoiding a ballistic re-entry. Russian space officials said changes had been made to equipment and computer programming to prevent the problem from happening again.

http://n.yam.com/afp/life/200810/20081014571282.html
搭載美富豪觀光客　俄聯合號順利連接太空站  
法新社╱蔣天清 2008-10-14 22:20    
 
 
（法新社莫斯科十四日電）俄羅斯太空任務地面控制中心的發言人向法新社表示，美國電玩業大亨賈里奧特搭乘的俄國「聯合號」太空船，今天順利與國際太空站接合。

這位女發言人說：「聯合號於莫斯科時間中午十二時二十六分自動接合。」地面控制中心位於莫斯科附近的柯洛留夫鎮，有大螢幕顯示接合的過程。

賈里奧特為這趟十天的太空之旅花費三千萬美元（約台幣九億七千多萬元）。除了他以外，太空船還載有俄國斯太空人羅恩恰可夫和美國太空人芬克。

賈里奧特的父親歐文曾是美國太空人，於一九七三年在全球第一座環繞地球軌道的太空站「太空實驗室」（Skylab）待了兩個月。

賈里奧特在國際太空站將見到的俄羅斯太空人伏科夫也是太空人之子。

賈里奧特預計於十月二十四日返回地球。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081014/sc_afp/russiausspacetourism_081014141958
Russian capsule carrying US tourist docks with space station

18 minutes ago

MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying US millionaire video game guru Richard Garriott, the world's sixth space tourist, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday.
 
"The docking took place at 12:32 Moscow time (0832 GMT) and they entered about an hour later," a spokeswoman for the space control centre in the town of Korolyov told AFP, adding that Garriott and his crewmates "feel very well."

Television footage showed six crewmen in blue suits -- three fresh off the Soyuz and three who had already been on the ISS -- smiling and waving aboard the station. The astronauts were also shown floating in zero gravity.

Tuesday's rendezvous in space was unusual for its family connections.

Garriott is the son of former US astronaut Owen Garriott, who in 1973 spent two months aboard Skylab, the first orbiting space station.

On the ISS, he met a member of the world's other space dynasty: Sergei Volkov, the son of former Soviet cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, who was shown joking with Owen Garriott at a televised press conference after the docking.

"When I woke up this morning, I thought, 'Why don't I fly into space today?' I did my exercises and felt well, so why not?" Alexander Volkov said.

"If we could go together, that would be a good idea," Owen Garriott replied.

Apart from Richard Garriott, who is paying 30 million dollars (22 million euros) for his 10-day space journey, the capsule also took Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and US astronaut Michael Fincke to the ISS.

The 47-year-old US space tourist, who has called his journey into orbit a lifelong dream, created the Ultima series of computer role-playing games in the 1980s and later earned millions of dollars as a video-game entrepreneur.

He is due to fly back on October 24, along with Sergei Volkov and another Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Kononenko, in a descent that will be closely watched for signs of a glitch that has bedevilled recent landings of the Soyuz capsule.

In a landing on April 19, the capsule entered the atmosphere at an unusually steep angle, subjecting astronauts to uncomfortably strong G forces and landing 420 kilometres (260 miles) from its target.

Coming after a similar incident in October 2007, the so-called "ballistic" descent raised questions about the safety of the Soyuz, a workhorse spacecraft that has carried out more than 1,600 flights.

Russian space officials blamed the problem on a faulty explosive bolt used to separate the Soyuz from the ISS, and two cosmonauts went on a spacewalk in July to fix the problem.

But the chief of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said in August that the Soyuz glitch was still a mystery.

NASA will be totally reliant on the Soyuz for transporting astronauts and cargo to the ISS after its space shuttle fleet retires in 2010 and until the shuttle's successor vehicle is ready, expected in 2015 at the earliest.

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2008/new/oct/13/today-int6.htm
自由時報2008年10月13日

前太空人之子 花11 億遊太空

〔編譯管淑平／綜合哈薩克貝加奴12日外電報導〕美國電玩大亨賈里奧特12日搭乘俄羅斯聯合號太空船升空，前往國際太空站，成為全球第6名太空遊客。賈里奧特的父親為美國航太總署（NASA）退休太空人，此行也創下美國第一對父子檔相繼登上太空的紀錄。

老爸目送兒子圓夢

搭載賈里奧特與美國太空人芬克、俄羅斯太空人羅恩查柯夫的聯合號TMA-13太空船，12日下午1點01分（台灣時間12日下午3點01分），在晴空下從哈薩克貝加奴太空中心升空，10分鐘後進入地球軌道，預定14日與國際太空站接駁。

這趟太空之旅讓賈里奧特成為兒子循著父親腳步，登上太空的美國第一人。靠著設計電玩致富的賈里奧特，父親歐文．賈里奧特曾在1973年和1983年兩度上太空，共停留70天。

現年47歲的賈里奧特從小就夢想上太空，卻因為視力太差而無法成為太空人。後來他投資專門安排太空旅遊的美國「太空探險」公司，擔任董事。據傳他這次付出3500萬美元（11億台幣）旅費，一圓太空夢。

為地球拍照 和父親當年拍的比一比

歐文12日在哈薩克發射基地目送兒子上太空，也為兒子感到興奮，「他做到了」，賈里奧特的媽媽和女友都激動落淚。

賈里奧特將在國際太空站停留10天，在此期間將進行多項實驗，還要為地球拍照，與他父親1973年在美國天空實驗室（Skylab）地球軌道太空站上拍攝的地球照片比較有哪些變化，預定10月24日返回地球。