Space Tourist Richard Garriott
Published on Apr 7, 2008 at 10:15 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under astronauts, public science.
In October Richard Garriott, a wealthy computer game developer, is paying to fly to the International Space Station. He is the latest in a fairly short list of space tourists. Of course, the list can’t be too big. After all, it is costing him $30 million to fly to the ISS. Not very many people have thirty million dollars laying around that they can spend on such a luxury. Two years ago, I wrote about Anousheh Ansari’s trip into space. She kept a blog about the trip. But, she also conducted several educational activities while in space. The idea was to try to encourage young people to study math and science to be future engineers and space scientists. Garriott, too, is planning a number of educational activities with his trip into space. He reportedly believes that education is important to us here on Earth, and that there is a serious need for anything that can capture the attention of students towards space. I really admire these people. They are spending a lot of their own money. Most people who spend that much of their own money for such a luxury would want to center the experience completely on themselves. A lot of wealthy people pay a lot of money for their own amusement, and only they benefit. However, here we have people who, of course, are spending money for their own purposes, but they are eager to share their experiences with others for the good of all.
One of the first educational activities is a contest held in conjunction with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. This is a contest to design a patch for Garriott’s flight. Since the earliest days of space flight, each mission has had its own patch. The patches are traditionally designed by the astronauts themselves. However, this patch is to be designed by students. The patch is to have a design that signifies the adventure of space exploration, and discoveries that are associated with that exploration. You can find out more about the patch contest at the Challenger Center patch contest web page. But, if you (or a student that you know) wants to design a patch, then you had better hurry. The deadline is April 18, just 11 days from now.
But, there is even more. There are educational opportunities for UK students developed in partnership with the British National Space Centre. Primary school students (ages 7 through 11) are also asked to think of experiments that Garriott can do while in space. You can find out more about that opportunity here. All too often, most educational activities seem aimed at the younger children, with the idea of capturing their interest in science and space, with the idea that they will keep their interest and go on to be science and engineering majors. Research, though, suggests that no matter how much you capture their interest in elementary school, they will lose it in high school if you don’t do something to keep that interest. Planetarium shows and museums seem aimed primarily at the younger kids. But, the older ones find such things boring, and they lose interest. However, in this instance, there is also a challenge for the older students, ages 11 through 19. The challenge for these students is to develop a master plan for space enterprises.
You can read more about Garriott’s mission and the various educational opportunities at a web site set up just for his flight. Oh, and I’d be remiss to not mention that Richard Garriott is not the first person in his family to fly into space. His father, Owen Garriott, was an astronaut scientist who flew aboard Skylab in 1973. He also was part of the Spacelab-1 mission of STS-9 in 1983.
-Astroprof
ashamed on November 12, 2008 at 4:32 am: 1
good going.. i am sure all the starving children in Africa looked up to the heavens and praised you and your 30 mill dollars spent as you floated by.