Depois de Charles Simonyi, neste momento a divertir-se a bordo da Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS), parece que o bichinho das viagens orbitais pegou na Microsoft, e Bill Gates já terá comentado sobre o seu desejo de ir 'passear' à ISS.Embora haja muita gente que se oponha, com excelentes motivos, a este tipo de utilização para fins turísticos da ISS, incluindo a NASA e eu próprio, creio que uma deslocação de Bill Gates à ISS poderia servir excelentes propósitos, se bem aproveitada.
Bill Gates, com a notoriedade que decorre de ser o homem mais rico do Mundo, poderá chamar a atenção para vários problemas - os crónicos cortes orçamentais nos programas de exploração espacial e a falta de interesse generalizada no público americano pela exploração espacial e pela Ciência em geral.
Também poderá servir como estímulo ao investimento privado, uma vez que, como sabemos, os 'ricos' passam a vida a exibir-se uns aos outros, e a moda dos vôos espaciais iria pegar entre os hiper-ricos, criando assim excelentes oportunidades de negócio nesta área.
Fonte: New Scientist Space
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Is Bill Gates planning a trip to space?
* 17:32 11 April 2007
* NewScientist.com news service
* New Scientist Space and AFP
The world's richest man, Bill Gates, is considering a possible flight into space, a Russian cosmonaut said from the International Space Station on Wednesday, citing Gate's colleague, current space tourist Charles Simonyi.
"Charles said that Bill Gates is also preparing to visit space," cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin told journalists during a video link-up from the space station, which was broadcast on state television Rossiya. "So the next time someone will be with Bill Gates. For me this is the biggest surprise of our flight."
Space Adventures, the US-based company that organises the orbital trips, said it had heard nothing from Gates about a possible flight. "Space Adventures has had no contact with Bill Gates," spokeswoman Natalya Dedovets said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Russian space agency, Igor Panarin, said Gates "visited us several months ago at the cosmonaut training centre at Star City" near Moscow.
Nothing official
"However, for now there are no negotiations on taking part in a tourist flight. We have not had any official request from Mr Gates," he said. "But if Mr Gates expressed interest, we would help him."
The first slot for a potential Gates flight would be in 2009, he said.
Simonyi, Yurchikhin and fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kotov docked at the International Space Station on Monday, after a flight that cost the former Microsoft engineer $25 million.
Simonyi is scheduled to return to Earth on April 20 with current ISS crew members Mikhail Tyurin and Miguel Lopez-Alegria. The two Russian cosmonauts will stay on for a 190-day shift in orbit.
Simonyi, who made his fortune at Microsoft, is the fifth tourist to travel to the ISS, following US citizens Dennis Tito in 2001 and Greg Olsen in 2005, South Africa's Mark Shuttleworth in 2002, and a US citizen of Iranian origin, Anousheh Ansari in 2006.
Space Adventures plans to expand its offerings next year to include a $100 million trip around the Moon and a $100,000 budget option: 5 minutes of sub-orbital space flight.
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