The Seattle Times scores an interview with Charles Simonyi, the former Microsoft developer who signed a contract yesterday to fly to the ISS as a space tourist. While some people might be content to float around in weightlessness and spend the day looking out the window, Simonyi wants to play a more active role on the station: “I’m technically capable, so I’m sure I can make myself useful,” he said. “I want to go all the way in terms of learning everything.” As the article notes:
With typical Microsoft gusto, the man who helped invent productivity software already has some thoughts about how to improve things such as the spacecraft’s checklist and manuals, and taking inventory at the space station.
Simonyi, who has done some preliminary training and passed his medical examination, said one of his goals for the flight is to study the different Russian and American engineering approaches.
I think this makes him a certified space geek. Not that that’s a bad thing. Simonyi added that his flight is a “small step” toward the further commercialization of space. “We all think that when you listen to ‘Star Trek’ and they say it’s the final frontier, how are you going to conquer space if you’re not taking steps to get more kinds of people into space?”
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