Best known as the creator of the Ultima series of online games, Richard Garriott has traded in his usual Elizabethan attire for cosmonaut's jumpsuit as he prepares to rocket into space for a week and a half aboard the International Space Station. 
Aug 20, 2008 06:40 PM
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Best known as the creator of the Ultima series of online games, Richard Garriott has traded in his usual Elizabethan attire for cosmonaut's jumpsuit as he prepares to rocket into space for a week and a half aboard the International Space Station. Wired's David Kushner tagged along as Garriott was subjected to simulations, g-forces and Russian hospitality in Star City, the Soviet-era cosmonaut training facility.
Garriott has been chasing the space dream ever since he was diagnosed with poor vision and told that he would never be able to follow in astronaut father Owen Garriott's zero-gravity footsteps. The eight-month training regimen is meant to limit the danger inexperienced space travelers like Garriott presents to the safety of the crew. While Garriott says that he'll be helping with experiments and wishes he could claim the title of "astronaut" or "cosmonaut," officials are a little more sanguine about the role wealthy dilettantes with daddy issues play. In terms of actual progress on research: "People say it is better to send monkey," military spokesperson Marina Driga told Kushner.
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