Dr. Peter H. Diamandis: "Opening the Personal Spaceflight Frontier" November 15, 2006

free
RSVP here.



In conversation with WIRED senior editor Adam Rogers

Diamandis, WIRED Rave Award winner & co-founder of Space Adventures Ltd – a pioneer & leader in the commercial space arena – discusses the X PRIZE, Zero Gravity flights, & the Rocket Racing League.

Dr. Diamandis is the Chairman & CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, which awarded the $10,000,000 Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight & is now implementing prizes in a variety of different arenas. He is the chairman & co-founder of the Rocket Racing League. Diamandis also serves as the CEO of Zero Gravity Corporation, a commercial space company developing private, FAA-certified parabolic flights utilizing Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Diamandis is a co-founder of Space Adventures Ltd, the company which brokered the flight of four private citizens to the International Space Station.

In 1987, Diamandis co-Founded the International Space University (ISU) where he served as the University's first managing director. Today he serves as a Trustee of the thirty-million dollar ISU that is based in Strasbourg, France. Prior to ISU, Diamandis served as chairman of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) an organization he founded at MIT in 1980. SEDS is the world's largest student pro space organization.

Dr. Diamandis attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he received his undergraduate degree in molecular genetics & graduate degree in aerospace engineering. After MIT he attended Harvard Medical School where he received his M.D.

He is the winner of the 2006 (inaugural) Heinlein Award, the 2006 Lindbergh Award, the 2006 WIRED RAVE Award, the Konstantine Tsiolkovsky Award, twice the winner of the Aviation & Space Technology Laurel, & the 2003 World Technology Award for Space. In 8th grade, while living in New York, Dr. Diamandis won first place in the Estes rocket design contest.

Diamandis' mission is to open the space frontier for humanity. His personal motto is: "The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!"

Adam Rogers is a Senior Editor at WIRED magazine in San Francisco. He edits feature stories about science, politics, military & law enforcement technology, & other subjects. Rogers is also one of the editors of the front-of-the-book Start section.

Before WIRED, Rogers spent eight years as a reporter for Newsweek, primarily focusing on science, technology, & medicine. While covering the emerging internet revolution in the mid-1990s, he also carved out a geek culture beat – science fiction, comic books, & movies with lots of special effects. In 1999 & 2000 Rogers worked on Newsweek's presidential campaign book project, following the campaigns of Bill Bradley, Al Gore, & Hillary Clinton. He ended up posted to Newsweek's Washington, DC bureau, & as a reporter there covered science policy & homeland security.

In 2002 & 2003 Rogers was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied the intersection of urban theory, ecology, & public health. Now he lives in Berkeley, California, constantly tinkering on his tiny 1898 farmhouse (primarily to improve his home, but also as an excuse to acquire more tools, which he reviews for WIRED). A native of Los Angeles, Rogers has a Master's degree from the Boston University Graduate Program in Science Writing & an undergraduate degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California. He lives with his wife, son, & two cats.

Official Website: http://www.lfla.org/aloud/php/a.calendar.bioText.php?month=11&year=2006&day=15