$25 Million Ticket to Ride

[Valerie S. Johnson]

By Valerie S. Johnson

How much would you pay for a two-week vacation in space? The world’s fifth “space tourist” and two Russian cosmonauts lifted off from Kazakhstan on Saturday, bound for the International Space Station.

The Russian rocket’s crew includes Dr. Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian immigrant who became an American billionaire following his original development work on Microsoft’s Word and Excel programs. He spent months training and preparing for the trip, as detailed in his blog at CharlesinSpace.com, complete with photos and videos.

Another report of Dr. Simonyi’s voyage put the price tag at $20 million. For a person of his means, $5 million is comparable to the amount you or I would spend on a pair of flip flops for our beach vacation.