On Blasting Into Space as a Private Citizen: A Chat With Richard Garriott

Richard Garriott launched his career by creating giant, wild virtual role-playing games, and his whole life has looked like one ever since. In 2008, he followed in the footsteps of his father, the NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, when he underwent months of training, strapped into a Soyuz rocket, and became one of the first private citizens to float into the most expensive mansion ever built, the International Space Station. The trip is chronicled in a fantastic new documentary, Man on a Mission, (you can watch it now on iTunes and video on demand.)

At his own castle-like mansion back on Earth, in Austin, the programmer-turned-gaming impresario, known by his handle Lord British, has created a modern-day wonder cabinet (chronicled here), replete with dinosaur fossils, a 16th century vampire hunting kit, automatons, a Sputnik and an observatory — all things he’s taking to the bigger palace he’s built down the road. He’s also the proud owner of a Russian lunar rover, which technically makes him the only private owner of an object sitting on another planet (stay tuned for more on that soon). The claim is a taste of a future in which private individuals and commercial entities — not just politically-ensared government agencies — help support the great expansion of mankind into the far reaches of the solar system.

Before he scores a one-way ticket to Mars though, Garriott has his sights set much lower: a rocket ride to a mere 50,000 feet or so, at which point he plans to dive back through the atmosphere wearing a spacesuit. Of course.

I really really enjoyed the documentary. What’s the reception been like?

So far, fantastic. It’s been great to see the reception that it’s had, and I think most people are walking away with the message I was hoping to bring forth, which is not only just how, a great behind-the-scenes look at what space flight is really about, but more importantly, how I really do strongly believe that anyone can tackle challenges that are this monumental, like fly themselves into space just with the persistence, dedication, and constantly working to solve the problems that might hold you back from being able to accomplish it.

Read the rest at Motherboard.