Garriot going into space

Richard Garriott has announced his next project, and it’s not a game – the NCsoft developer plans to go into space in 2008.

Following in the footsteps of his father, astronaut Owen Garriott, the designer of games like Ultima and upcomnig game Tabula Rasa is partnering with private firm Space Adventures for lift-off in October 2008.

Once up there, he’ll spend some time aboard the International Space Station.

"I am dedicating my spaceflight to science," said Garriott. "It is my goal to devote a significant amount of my time aboard the space station to science, engineering and educational projects. I understand the necessity for conducting research in extreme environments whether it is collecting microorganisms from deep sea hydrothermal vents to carrying out experiments in the continuous micro-gravity of Earth orbit.

"We need to be adventurous in mind and simulate our intellects to answer today’s most daunting scientific questions and to invent tomorrow’s technological marvels."

Garriott is no stranger to zero-G of course – he’s participated in a number of widely publicised flights in the ‘vomit comit’ plane which lets passengers experience weightlessness for short periods of time.