New Delhi: Charles Simonyi, the fifth tourist to enter space docked with the International Space Station on Wednesday.
The Soyuz capsule carrying Simonyi and two Russian cosmonauts docked automatically with the ISS. They loated into the space station about 90 minutes later.
Simonyi appeared with the crew at the space station for a press conference, where he called the $25 million experience "amazing."
“It was very, very dramatic. It was like a big stage set of some fantastic production of some incredible opera or modern play,” said Simonyi.
Simonyi returns to Earth on April 20, along with Russian Mikhail Tyurin and the American astronaut Miguel Lopez-Alegria, who have been on the station since September.
Simonyi, 58, lives in the United States where he amassed a fortune through his work with computer software, including helping to develop Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.
Simonyi was bringing with him a sample of the paper computer tapes that he used decades ago when he first learned programming on a bulky Soviet machine called Ural-2.
While at the space station, Simonyi will be conducting a number of experiments, including measuring radiation levels and studying biological organisms inside the lab.
(With inputs from agencies)
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