‘Man on a Mission’: Richard Garriott Used His Millions To Vacation In Space, Long Before Bezos and Branson

On July 11 the world looked to the skies — or, at least, to an embedded video stream — to watch Virgin’s Richard Branson ride his Unity space plane into low orbit. Today, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos strapped himself to one of his New Shepard rockets, the second billionaire to leave the boundaries of Earth in his own vehicle. (Branson may have beaten Bezos, but who was first to cross the Kármán Line, eh? The battle continues!) Elon Musk has yet to climb aboard SpaceX, though the 50-year-old expressed his wish to “die on Mars” (just not in a crash).

All of this is to say that privatized space exploration is now truly in the invisible hands of the market, but what many don’t realize is that it’s been there for a while. Before Bezos, Branson, and Musk, another self-made rich guy (and arguably dorkier than any of these three) reached deep into his pockets and bought himself a ticket to ride. The 2010 documentary Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott’s Road to the Stars tells that story.

Unlike Branson and Bezos, whose time in zero gravity was just a few minutes, Richard Garriott (known as “Lord British” to early gamers, but we’ll get to that) spent 12 days in space, 10 of them on the International Space Station. It cost him $30 million (though some of that went back into companies he invested in) and, more importantly, he had cameras with him every step of the way.

Man on a Mission, now streaming on Tubi (and rentable for cheap on a number of different platforms), is not exactly a masterpiece of cinema, but it’s a fun and engaging look at how the heck this happened. Garriott never knew a time without space. His father, Owen Garriott, was a NASA astronaut who flew on Skylab 3 and a Space Shuttle Columbia mission. He had an impish streak, convincing his wife to record a message to later use as a prank on Mission Control in Houston.

That sense of humor continued with his son, Richard, who was an early video game programmer, and an inspiration for the Halliday character in the book Ready Player One. When Garriott was still in high school he created one of the first role playing games, Akalabeth. Seven weeks of work after school poking around on an Apple II quickly earned him $150,000, more like half a million today. He followed that up with the Ultima series, a revolution in gaming, and the fantasy-inspired Garriott took on the sobriquet “Lord British.” He wore long braids, snake charms, and a helmet.

Perhaps somewhat related to these nerdish proclivities, it soon became evident that he’d never pass muster with NASA as a candidate for space activities. As his fortune grew (the games were hits, and he made wise investments) he quenched his thirst for adventure by traveling in the Amazon and South Pole. But for a guy who keeps a Sputnik in his house, it was always about the stars.

The official US space program wasn’t that interested in selling a seat up to the International Space Program, but the Russians didn’t slam the door so quickly. If he could prove that it was viable (a costly R&D request in itself) it might be able to happen.

Thus begat the company Space Adventures. Some mishaps, including a surgery, meant that Garriott wasn’t the first to go (he was actually sixth!) but he became first American second-generation space traveler, and arguably the biggest geek. While he did have some busy work up there (he volunteered to run an experiment on protein crystals, for example) he mostly fiddled with a HAM radio and held the first art exhibit in orbit. He also shot the first short narrative film entirely in space. (See how many sci-fi references you can count in it.)

What Man on a Mission shows us is what it would be like to be the “extra guy” on a space station. Everyone there seems to like him, but he’s mostly just floating around, taking video (with big 2008-era cameras, not a phone!), letting us look at how cluttered things are, and how quickly the floor can become the ceiling.

Richard Garriott is a hoot, but he’s not a doofus. His ride was mostly playtime, sure, but in case of an emergency, he needed to know what to do. His seriousness is made evident in this documentary, from his willingness to have optional surgery, putting himself through all the G-forces training, and, perhaps most impressive, teaching himself Russian. (And eating nothing but Russian food while doing months of prep in Star City.)

Branson and Bezos can look upon their work and feel proud of their accomplishments. And their space tourism businesses may even one day turn a profit, and benefit scientific research. (Long shot, but who knows?) But I doubt there was ever a wealthy weirdo who had as much fun as Richard Garriott.

Jordan Hoffman is a writer and critic in New York City. His work also appears in Vanity Fair, The Guardian, and the Times of Israel. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, and tweets about Phish and Star Trek at @JHoffman.

Watch Man on a Mission on Tubi