Lost in Space
**It's guest columnist time! Doug Barney is traveling this week, so filling
his chair today is Michael Desmond, former editor-at-large of Redmond
and founding editor of our newest publication, Redmond
Developer News. Stay tuned for more guest columnists throughout the
week.**
As developers go, Charles Simonyi is a legend. All he did at Microsoft, after
all, was spearhead the development of Word and Excel and expand that work to
create Microsoft Office, the largest application suite in history.
Simonyi left Microsoft in 2002 to start his own firm called Intentional Software,
but the Hungarian programmer has long wanted to go someplace else:
Space.
This weekend, Simonyi blasted off on a Russian Soyuz rocket from the launch
facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Simonyi paid more than $20 million for the
chance to experience microgravity, and will spend the next 11 days enjoying
the confines of the International Space Station. He'll spend a total of 13 days
in earth orbit. You can read more about Simonyi's extra-atmospheric jaunt here.
Microsoft's rich and famous have long been famed for retiring to pursue extreme
activities, whether it's car racing or doing something really dangerous like
owning the Portland Trailblazers. Now it appears Simonyi has (literally) raised
the bar. My question is, who'll be the first Redmondian to land on the moon?
Posted by Michael Desmond on April 09, 2007