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Orphans of Apollo
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Wikipedia article
'Orphans of Apollo' is a 2008 documentary film directed and produced by Michael Potter, co-directed by Becky Neiman and edited by Todd Jones, which describes how a band of entrepreneurs tried to privatize the space station Mir and tells the story that led to the development of MirCorp. It features prominent NewSpace entrepreneurs and space advocates (Rick Tumlinson, Jeffrey Manber), backed financially by Walter Anderson.
Background
MirCorp founder Walt Andersons highest-profile venture was an audacious plan to take over the Russian space station Mirwhich was being abandoned by the Russian space agencyand turn it into a commercial outpost in orbit. That effort ultimately failed. The films title refers to those people who came of age during the early years of the Space Age and expected to see progress continue at the rate seen in those heady early days, only to be disappointedorphanedby events of the last few decades. If they were going to have the kind of bold future they once envisioned, they would have to build it themselves. And, with MirCorp, thats what they tried to do. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution, an exclusive screening of 'Orphans of Apollo' was shown in the National Air and Space Museums Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater.
Synopsis
'Orphans of Apollo' is a documentary film based on a group of entrepreneurs heading MirCorp, who negotiate a business deal with the Russian government to lease the Mir space station for commercial use. The film covers the historical period from the time of President Nixons decision to end the NASA Apollo Moon program to post-Soviet Russia. More than solely a high-tech space story, the film includes themes of international negotiation, the power of entrepreneur vision, failed effort, and of course political power play. The film combines archival Russian film footage, archival NASA film footage, and IMAX footage, with interviews and original footage of the major players in the project including Walt Anderson, Richard Branson, Tom Clancy, Jeffrey Manber, Rick Tumlinson and others. The documentary has sufficient action to move it along quickly.
Michael Potter
As of 2008, Michael Potter was a Senior Fellow at the International Institute of Space Commerce. Previously, Potter worked as an international telecommunications analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Potter was one of the founders of Esprit Telecom, a successful European telecommunications company, where he was president until leaving to establish Paradigm Ventures, a high-technology venture capital firm. Potter was also a founding member of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA). The ECTA pushed for deregulation of telecommunications markets across Europe as a result of commercial practices by former monopolies to limit activities by resellers to access networks and obtain low pricing for the new operators.
Accolades
Winner of the Space Frontier Foundations Vision of the Future 2008 award
See also
* 'Black Sky: The Race For Space', 2005 documentary about NewSpace venture
References
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