1st "repeat" space tourist in training

An American billionaire is aiming to become the first space tourist to launch on a repeat flight to the International Space Station.

Charles Simonyi, who led the effort to develop the ubiquitous Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel software programs, will begin training to launch again on a weeklong trip to the international outpost next April.

The former boyfriend of domestic goddess Martha Stewart, Simonyi flew to the space station in April 2007 and is a paying a reported $30 million to return under the outpost under a commercial contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

The contract was arranged by Space Adventures, a Virginia company that brokers agreements to launch what NASA now calls "spaceflight participants" to the station.

Company client Dennis Tito became the first "tourist" to fly to the station in 2001, and four others -- including Simonyi -- have flown since.

Officials with Space Adventures said Simonyi's return trip demonstrates the strength of the market for space tourism.

"Having a repeat orbital client demonstrates to the world that participating in a space mission is truly a magnificent and awe-inspiring experience. It is also an excellent example that the marketplace is even larger than previously anticipated because of the potential occurrence of clients who fly on multiple occasions," Space Adventures President and CEO Eric Anderson said in a statement. "We congratulate Charles on his continued commitment to commercial spaceflight. We look forward to assisting him in preparation for the spring 2009 mission."

The company's sixth orbital spaceflight client, Richard Garriott, son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, is currently scheduled to launch to the ISS on October 12. He'll join up there with station commander Sergei Volkov, the son of Russian cosmonaut Alexander Volkov. It will be the first time second-generation space explorers have traveled together in orbit.

A native of Hungary, Simonyi has been enchanted with spaceflight since he was a youngster. He represented his native nation as a junior cosmonaut during a trip to Moscow at age 13.

Simonyi documented his first trip to the station at his web site: charlesinspace.com.

IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge and save the Associated Press photo of Charles Simonyi (middle) boarding a Soyuz spacecraft with Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin (top) and Oleg Kotov (bottom) in April 2007.