KOROLYOV, Russia — An American computer-game designer boarded the international space station Tuesday, floating onto the orbital outpost 35 years after his astronaut father circled the Earth on Skylab.
Richard Garriott was greeted by another man who has turned space flight into a family tradition: Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, whose father is a decorated veteran of the Soviet space program.
Both proud fathers — Owen Garriott with a U.S. flag patch on his jacket and Alexander Volkov with a Soviet medal pinned to his chest — watched on a screen at Russian Mission Control outside Moscow as the Soyuz craft docked with the space station.
“It’s looking great, and they are starting off on a fascinating new adventure,” Owen Garriott said.
About 90 minutes later, Richard Garriott and two crewmates floated into the station, where they got bear hugs from Sergei Volkov and the other two men aboard.
Garriott, 47, paid a reported $30 million to fulfill his childhood dream of space travel. Growing up steeped in space flight, his determination was only strengthened when he was told his poor eyesight would prevent him from becoming a NASA astronaut like his father.
Garriott flew up to the station with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov and U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke, who are to spend six months in orbit. Garriott is to return to Earth in a Soyuz capsule on Oct. 24 with Volkov and Oleg Kononenko.
Before they do, Garriott will conduct experiments — some for sponsors that helped foot the bill. He will photograph Earth to measure environmental damage and the effects of conservation since his father took extensive pictures from Skylab in 1973.
