"Mr Garriott has also said he would take photos to record how the Earth's surface has changed in the 35 years since his father's voyage.

Mr Fincke and Mr Lonchakov will replace the station's current crew - commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineer Oleg Kononenko - who are due to return home with Mr Garriott on 23 October after six months in space."

"Richard Garriot, the executive producer of NCsoft and creator of the Massively Multiplayer (and massively popular) Ultima Online, has criticised the genre for becoming stagnant, claiming that MMO design has adopted elements akin to "whack-a-mole" games and data management in favour of innovative design."