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Space tourist Symonyi busy raising family, yearns to go to orbit again

Charles Symonyi came to the spaceport earlier to see off Fyodor Yurchikhin, a fellow crew member and a dear friend

Charles Symonyi NASA/wikimedia.org

Charles Symonyi

© NASA/wikimedia.org

BAIKONUR /Kazakhstan/, April 20. /TASS/. Space tourist Charles Symonyi, who was one of those watching the launch of the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, said he would like to go to orbit once again but it was impossible as he was busy raising his kids.

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While talking to TASS, Symonyi, who became the fifth-ever space tourist in 2007 and made his second space trip in 2009, said: "I promised my wife that I would be staying with the family and the children but I think it would be wonderful."

"Every time that I come here, I remember the excitement and the feeling of going to space. I would love to do it again," he added.

According to him, he came to the spaceport to see off Fyodor Yurchikhin, a fellow crew member from his first space flight.

Ten years ago I was in the crew of TMA-10 with Fyodor Yurchikhen and Oleg Kotov. Tomorrow, my friend Fyodor is going to space again 5th time
— Charles Simonyi (@charlessimonyi) 19 April 2017

"I’m here because this is the 10-year anniversary of my flight with Fyodor Yurchikhin," Symonyi said. "Fyodor is going to space for the fifth time, so I’m here to support him. He was the flight engineer. Oleg Kotov was the commander. But we of course spent time on the station. He was the commander of the station, of the ISS, when I was there. He gave me a lot of advice for my second flight. So we have a great friendship," he resumed.

Here is the booster on the pad ready to take my friend Fyodor #Yurchikhen and NASA Astrounaut Jack #Fisher to space tomorrow. #SoyuzMS04 pic.twitter.com/qNPOlaRy7F
— Charles Simonyi (@charlessimonyi) 19 April 2017

Charles Simonyi, a computer programmer, oversaw the creation of Microsoft’s flagship Office suite of applications, including Word and Excel, while heading Microsoft’s application software group. He quit Microsoft in 2002 to create a new programming start-up. However, according to media reports, Symonyi is now returning to Microsoft.

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Russian tourism agency suggests opening Vostochny spaceport for tourists

The Soyuz-FG rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft blasted off the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:13 Moscow time (07:13 GMT) on Thursday. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock to the ISS six hours after the launch, considering that the three previous flights were two days long as the Soyuz-MS spacecraft was undergoing tests. The crew is made up of Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Jack Fischer. The third seat is occupied by a 70-kilogram cargo container.

The current ISS crew consists of Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

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Lin Jian also reaffirmed Beijing's position on the Ukrainian issue

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The journalist also criticized US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (a Republican representing the state of Louisiana) for "not even mentioning it in public or in leadership meetings" with factions in the lower house of Congress

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US Congressman urges to impeach Biden for allowing strikes deep into Russia

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Iran begins installation of three new generations of centrifuges to enrich uranium — TV

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Signal to West and 'red card': experts weigh in on Putin’s missile launch statements

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US, European officials suggest returning nukes to Ukraine — NYT

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US not seeking confrontation with Russia, but will continue assistance to Kiev — Pentagon

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