Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management
    • Networking

    Former Microsoft Executive Charles Simonyi Returns to Earth

    By
    Nicholas Kolakowski
    -
    April 8, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Former Microsoft Executive Charles Simonyi successfully touched down in Kazakhstan on April 8 after a second trip to the International Space Station, making him the first “space tourist” to complete two successful orbital jaunts.

      Simonyi spent 13 days in orbit, and paid $35 million for the privilege. His first trip, in April 2007, cost roughly $20 million. Two other astronauts, flight engineer Yuri Lonchakov and commander Michael Fincke, took the three-hour return trip from the station with Simonyi; their capsule parachuted to the Kazakhstani earth at 3:16 a.m. EDT, according to NASA.

      Soon after their landing, a joint recovery team of Russian and NASA personnel reached the site and immediately subjected all three voyagers to medical tests.

      Simonyi spearheaded the development of a number of Microsoft applications, including Word and Excel, during the 1980s. He also created the concept of the “revenue bomb.”

      In 2002, however, he left Microsoft to create Intentional Software, a company devoted to developing software tools based on intentional programming precepts.

      Simonyi’s second space-trip began on March 26, with the launch of the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakstan. It rendezvoused with the International Space Station two days later. Among the crowd seeing him off was Paul Allen, who reportedly opened bottles of champagne, and Simonyi’s wife Lisa Persdotter.
      According to Space Adventures CEO Eric Anderson, the market for space tourism has been affected by the global economic recession; in interviews, however, both he and others seem optimistic in the industry’s long-term prospects.

      Reuters quoted a source within Russia’s space industry as saying two unidentified space tourists could launch in 2011. Since the destruction of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia in 2003, Russia has taken on the responsibility of transporting personnel and supplies to the station.

      While his second space odyssey would suggest a lifelong obsession with traveling beyond the surly bonds of Earth, Simonyi didn’t consider venturing into orbit until later in life.

      “Everybody’s interested in space as a child, I think, but I didn’t take it seriously early on,” Simonyi said in an interview with Private Air magazine after his first flight. “My calling wasn’t space; it was computers. I started thinking about space only once it became practical.”

      Before the 2007 liftoff, he also consulted some experts for advice.

      “I talked to Neil Armstrong and John Glenn,” he said in that same interview. “I asked if I should go, and they said, ‘By all means.'”

      Avatar
      Nicholas Kolakowski
      Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×