I didn't meet him because he was an astronaut; I met him because he's Richard Garriott (Richard Garriott de Cayeaux, following his marriage), one of the most famous game designers in the world. He's here at Gamelab to pick up a special, lifetime achievement award for his work, which he did at an awards ceremony last night; I wanted to say hi because the pioneering Ultima Online kicked off the MMO industry, plus I'd played Ultimas IV through VI back in the day and greatly enjoyed them. I didn't expect he'd know who I was, but it turned out he wanted to meet me almost as much as I wanted to meet him. He's a really nice, interesting guy.
Midway through the award ceremony, Jon "Neverdie" Jacobs sang his song I am my Avatar to us both, in a surprise serenade that really did live up to its "once in a lifetime experience" billing. Jon is also a legend in virtual worlds and I was hoping to introduce myself to him at some point, too; I wasn't expecting he'd already know who I was (or indeed that he could sing).
When Richard collected his award, he invited me up onto the stage for the photo. It was his award; he didn't have to do that. I'd heard before that he's a class act; now I know for sure that he is.