Richard Garriott made his fortune as a video game developer, creating the popular Ultima series. Now he’s paying for the privilege of traveling to the International Space Station (ISS).
What makes Garriott different from all previous space farers is that he has a parent who has also been in space! His father, Owen Garriott, is a former NASA astronaut. The elder Garriott flew to NASA’s Skylab space station in 1973 and on a space shuttle mission a decade later. He was also involved in early work for the ISS, when its design was still being hashed out.
Students of all ages are encouraged to submit their design for a student patch or t-shirt that celebrates the educational aspect of Richard Garriott’s upcoming flight. As the next civilian to fly into space, Richard plans to engage with students, teachers and the 50 Challenger Learning Centers around the world through interactive activities before, during and after his flight currently scheduled for lift-off to the International Space Station on October 12, 2008.
The student design should symbolize the adventure and discovery of spaceflight from the student’s point of view. The winning student design may appear on both a patch and a t-shirt.
Submit your student’s design by the deadline of April 18th to www.challenger.org
Richard Garriott plans to spend time before, during and after his flight conducting interactive webcasts about his spaceflight training in Russia; holding amateur ham radio conversations with students during his flight; and performing experiments that can be replicated by students using everyday objects to demonstrate important concepts in physics. For more information, visit the
To request an interview with Richard Garriott, please contact Stacey Tearne, Space Adventures: stearne@spaceadventures.com
