You've all heard that Richard Garriott, creator of Richard Garriott's Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa by Richard Garriott, will be taking to the final frontier that is space when he takes off this October 12, 2008 for the International Space Station (ISS). But here's something you didn't know: according to official press release, Garriott's going to carry with him digitized copies of human DNA to add to the ISS' Immortality Drive.

And Operation Immortality, as the announcement says, is an ongoing project to preserve as much of the human race beyond it's extinction. It's also a real-life ongoing game in the veins of Tabula Rasa - an amazing, all-out promotion to get everyone interested in NCSoft's biggest MMORPG and yet show a larger picture of the human race's impending fate.

DNA storage on the Immortality Drive, however digitally, is just one of the tasks placed at hand for the immortalization of the human race.

The DNA copies would come from three members of human kind: Cliffs of Dover (from album Ah Via Musicom) guitarist Eric Johnson, Grammy-nominated record producer/musical director Stephen Bruton (From the Five), and Texan rock, pop, and soul icon Patrice Pike (said to be the youngest to be inducted to the Texas Music Hall of Fame).

Why? Well the idea was spurred from a recent alliance between Planet Make-Over and Operation Immortality. As a social networking site inclined to music, Planet Make-Over has more of a chance to spread the word  that Earth isn't doing too well through music and stars' fans.

Operation Immortality's goals would have us work to prolong our homeworld and our existence, or else Operation Immortality no longer remains a "game" but reality. Reality that, in the case of our impending doom, would tell us, "Now would be a good time to save your game, humans." Gary Fortin, creator and executive producer of Planet Make-Over, said,

The Concept of Operation Immortality is much more than a theme to an online game. The Earth’s population needs to quickly adjust our behavior regarding global warming or else fiction quickly becomes our new reality. When we learned that Richard Garriott will be conducting environmental research while in space, the stars all aligned to support him. Planet Make-Over is about saving the planet. The message is serious but the process can, and should be fun.

Looks like gaming and music are more than just entertainment now. I wonder whose DNA they'll be lining up next?

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