In other extremely important and relevant news, Stephen Colbert is headed for space– in DNA form. His DNA will be digitized and sent to the International Space Station via Operation Immortality.
As you might be able to infer from its name (or not), Operation Immortality is, according to its website, “a project to collect and archive the very best of what humanity is and has accomplished”.
Programmer and video game designer extraordinaire Richard Garriott has the task of carrying into a space a digital time capsule, containing DNA samples from entrepreneurs, celebrities and athletes, as well as messages from people around the world.
Scheduled for take off in October 2008, Garriott will be setting some records, as the world’s 6th space tourist and as the first offspring of an American Astronaut to go into space (his father is Owen K. Garriott, a former NASA astronaut who spent time in space in the 1970s and 1980s).
While Operation Immortality doesn’t appear to serve any useful purpose, its always good to see pro-science endeavors getting some media attention.