Gaming pioneer Richard Garriott of Austin, who paid $30 million to travel to the International Space Station in 2008, says that within three to five years, the “barnstorming era of space will absolutely captivate the public’s interest.”
A documentary about Garriott’s space adventure, “Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission,” will premiere at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival. The first screening will be at 1:30 p.m. March 14 at the Paramount Theater; the second will be at 2:30 p.m. March 18, also at the Paramount.
In an interview with Examiner.com, Garriott said that a “less-than-stellar amount of attention” currently is being paid to space travel and exploration.
However, he expects space to attract more notice as private industry ramps up space-travel options, and as NASA phases out the shuttle program and begins focusing more on potential missions to the moon and Mars.
“We’re at a very fundamentally radically changing moment in space history,” Garriott told Examiner.com.
“NASA as well as private industry see the commercial space flight as a key enabler as not only to NASA’s mission but also to expanding humanity’s role in space. I am a devote believer that that’s true.”
Garriott said he would live on the moon or Mars “in a heartbeat.” As for future space travel, he said: “I can’t tell you exactly on what vehicle and what date yet, but I have no doubt I will return to space, most likely multiple times.”
The documentary features never-before-seen training footage from Star City, Russia’s secretive cosmonaut training center; Garriott’s launch from Kazakhstan; and his personal movies shot aboard the International Space Station.
“This is like having an HD camera follow Christopher Columbus as he struggled to put together his voyage to the New World,” said Brady Dial of Austin, the film’s producer.
Garriott told Examiner.com that he hopes “Man on a Mission” will secure deals for distribution in movie theaters, on TV and on DVD.
Mike Woolf of Austin-based Beef and Pie Productions directed the documentary.
“People will look back at this film and realize that this is when space travel was opened up to everyone, and Richard Garriott led the way,” Woolf said.
Garriott’s father, Owen Garriott, is a former NASA astronaut who completed two space missions during his career. Richard Garriott’s 12-day journey to the International Space Station was the first trip to space for a second-generation astronaut.
Garriott, creator of the Ultima video game series, recently launched an Austin-based social media company, Portalarium Inc. On March 10, Portalarium announced its first game, Sweet @$! Poker, is now in commercial mode. The game is available on Facebook.
For regular news about space exploration, follow Examiner.com’s Austin Science Policy Examiner.
To keep up to date on SXSW, follow Examiner.com’s coverage.
Comments