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 at 11:53 AM