Richard Garriott, creator of the widely acclaimed fantasy role-playing realm of Ultima, light-jumped into the future with his first massively multiplayer online game project, Tabula Rasa. With his sci-fi MMOG ticking off its last few checks before launching into cyberspace on October 16, Lord British is planning to get his own first-hand look at the inspiration for his latest creation.

　　Space Adventures Inc., a privately owned space-exploration company, announced today that it would be rocketing the acclaimed game designer out of this world in October 2008. Garriott, the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, plans to dedicate his journey to the International Space Station to scientific study.

　　"It is my goal to devote a significant amount of my time aboard the space station to science, engineering, and educational projects... We need to be adventurous in mind and stimulate our intellects to answer today's most daunting scientific questions and to invent tomorrow's technological marvels," he said.

　　Garriott is the sixth space tourist to fly with Space Adventures. The first, American businessman Dennis Tito, secured a seat to the final frontier for a reported $20 million in 2001. Garriott is seeking corporate sponsorship for his expedition.