Lord British in Space

[magerette]

Kalniel writes in with the news that the creator of the Ultimas, Richard Garriott, has fulfilled a longstanding ambition and become a "space tourist." Here's the lowdown from the UK Times Online:

Richard Garriott, 47, will dock tomorrow at the International Space Station, 225 miles above Earth, 35 years after his father Owen flew aboard one of Nasa’s last Apollo missions to Skylab, America’s first orbiting laboratory.
The multi-millionaire computer-game developer, who began his working life as a kitchen assistant at Burger King, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today as a private passenger aboard a Soyuz capsule, having paid the Russian space agency $30 million for the privilege and undergone a year’s training.

Thanks, kalniel.

More information.

 

[screeg]

A multi-millionaire games developer with $30M cash to spare on a space flight.

I never would have dreamed.

 

[Lucky Day]

started as a kitchen assistant at Burger King? Oh please, he was making 6 figures at the age of 18. He has as humble roots as Vanilla Ice or Tone Loc.

Regardless, good for him. Wish I could do that.

 

[stealth]

I read this in the paper this morning. Must say that I was a bit shocked that he was good for that much. His consultant fee (or whatever his role is/was) at Lineage must be high.

 

[Toaster]

I also read that he spent the majority of his savings on this, but as I see it it's totally worth it. You're left with at least a couple of millions, and in return you get to go to space!

 

[skavenhorde]

Plus he had the honor of taking Stephen Colbert's DNA into space :lol:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/09...iott-will-carry-stephen-colbert039s-dna-space

Garriot had a call in on Colber's show right before he went into quarantine.
http://kotaku.com/5053042/colbert-enlists-lord-british-to-save-universe-from-his-balls

I didn't know that Garriot's dad was an astonaut. Well, just goes to show that even if you don't make it into NASA you can still make it into space (if you have enough money).

 

[zakhal]

The castle is neat (hope he has enough money to maintain it after this) but I would have skipped the space trip. But he is still young enough to work another 10-20 years if he so chooses. Rich life might have made him lazy though.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

An article in today's newspaper also writes that he perfoms tests for other companies in order to get some of the money back he payed for this "trip".

So, he's one of the first "commercial testers" out there, huh ?

 

[Asbjoern]

His trip is very commercial. The purpose was rather to advertise than to experience space flight.

Yay, Lord British has come to visit us from outer space. What good tidings do you bring, My Lord?

 

[zakhal]

His trip is very commercial. The purpose was rather to advertise than to experience space flight.

Yay, Lord British has come to visit us from outer space. What good tidings do you bring, My Lord?

Huh?
Last Activity: Today 13:37
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[kalniel]

Firstly apologies for the typo - Garriott has two 't's of course!

I don't see it as such a bad thing. Sure, the money could go somewhere else, but it's a drop in the ocean compared to the money that's gone into thin air in the current financial situation. At least this way going into space is a little bit productive.

From a personal viewpoint I'm very interested in one of the projects he's doing - growing protein crystals. It's also cool that he gets to do somethings for kids that a govt. funded astronaut isn't likely to find time for.

Finally it must be something to have a dad who was an astronaut. To follow such a dad into space must be the fulfilment of a major dream and I'm happy that he's achieved it. He's given me a ton of pleasure under Origin too so I don't begrudge him that.

 

[wolfing]

I read this in the paper this morning. Must say that I was a bit shocked that he was good for that much. His consultant fee (or whatever his role is/was) at Lineage must be high.

Nah, he was a multi-millionaire long before. I'm guessing by Ultima 7 he was already rich, but probably Ultima Online made him a multi-millionaire, plus investing in the right places would just multiply that.

 

[martink]

They're charging him $30M to go to space.

...and in enviable Russian style, another $30M to come back.

 

[Zloth]

.... unless some disgruntled Tabula Rasa players pay $50M to leave him up there.

Lord British was in on the early PC (and Apple and Atari and...) gaming. Take Ultima 2. He designed it, developed it, did all the art for it, did all the writing, and so on. No need to share the revenue! He even started his own distribution company with Ultima 3 so Sierra wasn't even getting a cut anymore.

Compare that to Mass Effect. Sure, far more people bought it. However, they paid about as much as Ultima 2 cost and that money was divided between a LOT more folks.

 

[Gorath]

An article in today's newspaper also writes that he perfoms tests for other companies in order to get some of the money back he payed for this "trip".

So, he's one of the first "commercial testers" out there, huh ?

That's common practice. The number of space flights is limited and the entry barrier still high. It's cost effective for companies to sponsor certain experiments. It's also one of the reasons why most astronauts - apart from the pilots - are highly qualified scientists.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Yes, I know that the astronauts are scientists.

But I wouldn't expect that from "space tourists".

 

[Gorath]

He knows the science of making money.

 

[JemyM]

He knows the science of making money.

Definitely, the guy had a castle in 1981.