Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux is a British-born American game developer, entrepreneur, explorer, and private astronaut. His 2008 Soyuz flight made him a second-generation space traveler: his father, Owen Garriott, had flown for NASA on Skylab 3 and STS-9.
- Born
- July 4, 1961
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Cambridge, England,United Kingdom
Flights
1
Spacewalks
0
EVA time
N/A
In space
11 days, 20 hours, 35 minutes
Bio
Garriott became known through computer-game development, especially the Ultima series and the Lord British persona. His route to space was therefore very different from his father's scientist-astronaut path, linking commercial software culture, exploration, and private orbital access.
He launched aboard Soyuz TMA-13 and returned on Soyuz TMA-12 after visiting the International . The mission included education outreach, photography, and creative projects, including work connected to filming and interactive communication from orbit.
Garriott's flight matters because it joined family spaceflight history with the private astronaut era. It showed that legacy, personal ambition, commercial training, and public outreach could all meet inside a short-duration ISS mission.