Charles Simonyi takes Hungarian language and cuisine into space

For the first time in 27 years, a Hungarian language conversation has taken place between a space station and the control centre on Earth. Hungarian-born software mogul and billionaire Charles Simonyi spoke to his brother, Tamás, and the first Hungarian in Space, Bertalan Farkas.

Farkas: "Thanks a lot dear friend, this is Bertalan Farkas..."

More on that from the head of the Hungarian Space Office, Elod Both:

Both: "Especially for me it's an extra pride because we, together with my colleagues in the Hungarian space office could manage that Dr Simonyi could make a Hungarian experiment on board the International Space Station. The Pille instrument has a small crystal in it and this crystal absorbs the ionising radiation which is a health risk for the astronauts. The instrument itself can calculate what was the ionising radiation absorbed by the crystal since the last measurement."

Mr Simonyi, proud of his Hungarian origin, also took with him a Hungarian flag and drawings made by Hungarian children to be signed by crew members on the ISS. However, Charles Simonyi is not just an ordinary Hungarian-American, but also a billionaire, and as such he served aboard the ISS a special dinner prepared - with the help of a chef, of course - by Charles's close friend, American celebrity Martha Stewart. It is not ordinary paprika chicken on the menu but: quail roasted in Madrian wine, duck breast with capers, shredded chicken parmentier, apple fondant pieces, rice pudding with candied fruit and semolina cake with dried apricots.