Charles Simonyi: From Microsoft Word to outer space

Charles Simonyi is on his way to the International Space Station aboard Expedition 15, which  blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 17:31 GMT April 7. Along with other crew members, Charles is slated to rendezvous with the space station on April 9 at 19:15 GMT. He is best know as the father of Microsoft's cash cows, such as Word and Excel, and is currently heading Intentional Software.

Charles paid $25 million for the 11-day space pleasure cruise and completed more than 900 hours of training prepping for the flight. Esther Dyson was on hand for the launch and provides some details about scene at the launch. While Charles is heading into space with the Russians, other rich nerds in U.S. (see the X Prize) are trying to make a new commercial industry out of space travel.  

See also:  CharlesinSpace, NYT