From Hungary, To Seattle... To Space
He's been interested in
space since before the launch of Sputnik 1... but to reach his
dreams of flying into orbit, first Charles Simonyi had to leave
Hungary.
Simoyni, now 58, did that when he was 17... roughly 10 years
after the Soviet Union catapulted dreams -- and fears -- into the
skies with its launch of the first manmade satellite. The man who
was born behind the Iron Curtain -- and was later able to watch it
fall from his new life in the United States -- will now be able to
soar above it all... as the latest "space tourist" scheduled to fly
onboard a Soyuz bound for the International Space Station next
March.
"Of course Dr. Simonyi has been successful in a much larger way
on Earth than we've been in space," said Eric Anderson, president
and CEO of Space Adventures, Ltd.
Simonyi was reluctant to discuss how much the venture will cost
him... but it's likely the trip will take about $25 million from
his net worth, which was estimated at $1 billion by Forbes this
year.
Simonyi's life has already been something of a rocket ride, so
to speak. When he was 13, his knowledge of space technology led him
to victory in a junior astronaut contest in Hungary -- granting him
a trip to Moscow, and the chance to meet cosmonaut Pavel
Popovich.
"I was a very realistic person. I was already learning English.
I was on my way out," Simonyi told the Associated Press of the
Moscow trip. He added that, while the trip was interesting, even as
a teenager his "dream was to get out of Hungary and be free."
After he left Hungary, Simonyi went on to study engineering and
computer science in the US, and later worked for Xerox. He left the
copier giant in 1981 to work at Microsoft, where he developed two
little software applications called Microsoft Word and Excel. Maybe
you've heard of them.
In 2002, he left Microsoft to found Intentional Software Corp...
and that company has given him the ability to, finally, reach for
the stars for real.
Somewhat ironically,
he'll do it on a spacecraft whose design originated in Communist
Russia.
"I'm part of a team and I will do what the commander asks me to
do," Simonyi said of the trip he is now training for. While he says
much of his time in orbit will be spent observing, and looking out
the window... he has taken each task assigned to him with gusto.
His background as a software engineer and a pilot, Simonyi says,
hasn't come in as handy as the fact he studied the Russian language
as a child.
During his stay on the ISS, Simonyi will keep a blog about his
trip on a web site designed to appeal to young space enthusiasts in
particular (available at the second FMI link below).
"I want to share all that I learn with everybody, especially
with kids," he said. "This is going to be a great six months."
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