Heinlein Prize Honors Dr. Peter Diamandis
FYI,
"Inaugural $500,000 Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space
Commercialization Honors Dr. Peter H. Diamandis"
X-Prize Foundation Press Release
http://www.xprizefoundation.com/news/pr6_XPC_may26.asp
: Trustees of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust
: announced today that the first-ever Heinlein Prize will go to Dr.
: Peter H. Diamandis. The Heinlein Prize was founded to reward
: individuals for making practical contributions to the
: commercialization of space. Dr. Diamandis will be honored at a
: dinner and award ceremony on July 7, 2006 at the St. Regis Hotel
: in Houston, Texas and receive $500,000, a gold Heinlein Medallion,
: the Lady Vivamus Sword (as described in Heinlein’s book Glory
: Road) and a Laureate’s Diploma.
: “Dr. Diamandis’ accomplishments have started space settlement and
: commerce,” explains Art Dula, Trustee and literary executor of the
: Heinlein Estate. “He has catalyzed space activities by hundreds of
: people and organizations all over the Earth who are creating a
: proud and prosperous future for humanity.”
: Diamandis is a pioneer and leader in the commercial space arena.
: In the past 25 years he started more than a dozen leading non-
: profit and for-profit space organizations. Diamandis is best known
: as Founder and Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, whose
: $10 million Ansari X PRIZE sparked the birth of the personal
: spaceflight industry.
: Robert Heinlein published over one hundred novels, short stories,
: and articles. He won six Hugo awards and has had his work adapted
: into four movies and five television series. The most prevalent
: theme underlying all his works is the practical benefit of man's
: activities in space. The majority of his works were published long
: before Neil Armstrong first set foot upon the Moon, writing
: against prevailing opinions of the time that declared such an
: endeavor as both impractical and impossible.
: Many of those who grew up reading his stories are scattered
: throughout the aerospace industry worldwide and have gone on to
: make significant progress towards man's expansion into space. Many
: testify today that they were first inspired by Robert Heinlein and
: his writings to pursue careers connected to space.
: “There is no question that Heinlein’s work has inspired and driven
: me during my career,” said Dr. Diamandis. “His novella, The Man
: who Sold the Moon, is my favorite story. In fact, I flew it as
: personal cargo aboard SpaceShipOne during the winning Ansari
: X PRIZE flight on October 4th, 2004.”
: Diamandis’ contributions to the commercialization of space began
: while studying molecular genetics as an undergraduate at MIT. In
: 1980 he founded the Students for the Exploration and Development
: of Space (SEDS), which has since become the largest student-based
: space organization in the world. He went on to earn a Master’s
: degree in Aerospace Engineering from MIT, concurrently with a
: Medical Degree from Harvard.
: Another major accomplishment was the founding of the International
: Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France. Since 1987 the ISU
: has provided graduate-level training to over 2,200 future leaders
: of the emerging global space community from 87 countries. The ISU
: is the embodiment of Dr. Diamandis’ vision of a peaceful,
: prosperous and boundless future through the study, exploration and
: development of space for the benefit of all humanity.
: “Initially I wanted to be a NASA Astronaut and that dream drove me
: to collect numerous degrees, private pilot and scuba ratings,”
: said Diamandis. “But along the way I committed myself to traveling
: to space privately. I believe opening the space frontier is
: critical for the future of humanity, and making space a viable
: commercial endeavor is paramount to opening this frontier. My
: philosophy has been that the best way to predict the future is to
: create it yourself.”
: Other notable achievements by Dr. Diamandis:
: 2004 – Co-founder and Chairman of Rocket Racing League – Combining
: the excitement of Indy car racing with the challenge of Rocketry,
: this league will have rocket planes race against each other on a
: 3D race track in the sky. Races are scheduled to begin next year.
: 1997 – Co-founder Space Adventures Ltd – Space Adventures is the
: leading space tourism travel agency. Space Adventures is best
: known for arranging the flight of Dennis Tito to the International
: Space Station in 2001, making him the first space tourist.
: 1996 – Founder, Chairman & CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation - In
: addition to the successful Ansari X PRIZE, Diamandis is leading the
: Foundation in its effort to create prizes in several other
: industries including genomics, water treatment, education, as well
: as, the automotive industry. 1995 –Co-Founder & President of Angel
: Technologies Corporation – Angel Technologies Corporation is a
: commercial communications company developing wireless broadband
: communications networks.
: 1993 – Chairman & CEO of Zero Gravity Corporation - The only
: commercial space company in the world offering FAA-certified
: weightless flights utilizing a Boeing 727-200 aircraft. More than
: 200 people have experienced weightlessness since flights began
: three years ago.
: 1991 – Founder & Director of Constellation Communications, Inc.
: (CCI) – CCI is one of five low-Earth orbit applicants designing a
: low-Earth orbit satellite constellation for voice telephony.
: 1989 – Founder & CEO of International MicroSpace, Inc. (IMI) – IMI
: was an entrepreneurial space technologies company focusing on the
: provision of low-cost launch services (ORBEX™ launch vehicle
: program).
: 1987 – Founder & Managing Director & CEO of International Space
: University (ISU) – ISU is the world's leading graduate program for
: multi-national and multi-disciplinary study of space.
: 1985 – Co-founder of the Space Generation Foundation – A non-profit
: organization to create a sense of identity in all people born
: since the advent of the Space Age on October 4, 1957. The
: Foundation supports numerous educational and research projects.
: 1980 - Founder of the Students for Exploration and Development of
: Space (SEDS) – SEDS is currently the world's largest student based
: pro-space organization.
: For more information about the Heinlein Prize or the Heinlein
: Prize Award Ceremony please visit www.heinleinprize.com .
--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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