If you don’t know Spacevidcast.com, you should! Tonight’s show featured Michael Potter and Orphans of Apollo. Hosts Cariann and Benjamin learned things they never knew!

Broadcast 1162 (Special Edition) Aired on May 25th, 2009
From Dr. David Livingston, The Space Show:

Michael Potter returned to The Space Show for updates regarding his excellent documentary film, “Orphans of Apollo.” You can learn more about the film and purchase your copy of it which I recommend by visiting www.orphansofapollo.com. Michael told us the story of a group of rebel entrepreneurs who almost bought the Russian Mir Space Station to use it for commercial purposes. Its an inspiring and exciting story with lessons to be learned that are playing a role in guiding today’s space entrepreneurs. During the show, one of the business participants in the Mir purchase featured in the film, Gus Gardellini, called in and added stories and detail to enhance the story told in this excellent documentary film. Gus also told us about his book on the subject being written and asked for feedback and possible NASA/Mir information so if you have such information, please send your note to themirbook@gmail.com. One of the important things driven home by Michael Potter during this show and in the film was the leadership required for this project. He also talked about the importance of the Band of Brothers management style. We also talked about national security issues because the Mir entrepreneurs wanted to use 1950’s technology including the electrodynamics tether. You will certainly want to hear what he had to say about this subject and export control. As this show unfolds, you will hear why this story is still relevant and important today and why many say that this story is the greatest space story never told. I urge you to see this film or order it from the above website.

LIsten to the show

Orphans of Apollo is now available on DVD at
www.OrphansofApollo.com

A behind-the-scenes documentary on the unsuccessful effort to turn Russia’s Mir space station into a money-making operation serves as a cautionary tale for the private sector’s present-day space ambitions.

– Alan Boyle, Cosmic Log, MSNBC

To many in the entrepreneurial NewSpace community, Walt Anderson is something of a folk hero. A self-made multimillionaire who built his fortune in the telecom industry, he invested much of that wealth in a variety of space ventures in the 1990s, from Rotary Rocket to LunaCorp. His highest-profile venture, though, was an audacious plan to take over the Russian space station Mir — which was being abandoned by the Russian space agency so it could focus on the International Space Station — and turn it into a commercial outpost in orbit.

–Jeff Foust, The Space Review

Potter’s film is at its finest as it recounts the negotiations that with Russian space officials over commercial use of a station built by Soviet socialists. In addition to recollections from Gardellini, Tumlinson, Manber and others, there is rare video clips shot during trips to Moscow and negotiating sessions. It’s a nice behind-the-curtain look into how international deals get done. Potter does a good job of getting you caught up in the excitement of the quest.

–Douglas Messier, Parabolic Arc

Captivating both visually and intellectually, Orphans of Apollo presents an inside look at the challenge of conquering space from outside the context of a governmental space agency. It shows that political and financial influences can reach far beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, but that imagination and determination are as powerful as any rocket fuel.

– Janet D. Stemwedel, Adventures in Ethics and Science

The movie takes us on a rollercoaster ride through this attempt at space commercialization. I knew many of the people in the movie during that time. I remember being amused by what they were trying and amazed they got so far.

–Karen Shea, National Space Society

Orphans of Apollo is not another Battlestar Galactica special (although that would be outstanding), but a documentary contemplation of privatized space travel. It gathers the “anarcho-capitalists” who tried to lease and restore the ailing Mir space station prior to its eventual demise. Given that the movie itself bears the whiff of an outlandish vanity project, it achieves a rare affinity between subject and presentation.

–Jonathan Kiefer,Sacramento News Review

Orphans of Apollo featured at 4:30 on Monday March 30, at the 24th Street Theater. Tickets on sale at the Sacramento International Film Festival page here.

Google this: March 23, 2001 Mir space station

According to YouTube user Evi1D0c, there was a plan.
“This was a media that NASA creative, to show the [simulated] intentional deorbit (reentry to Earth) of the aging and abandonded: MIR Russian Space Station.”

[ripped from the pages of FaceBook Group Orphans of Apollo]

“Orphans of Apollo” Screening Washington D.C. — ISU Fundraiser
An Exclusive Director’s Presentation of the Award Winning Film
Hosted by George Washington University, International Space University, Arthur C Clarke Foundation

Friday, February 27, 2009 5:00pm – 7:45pm
George Washington University, Jack Morton Auditorium
805 21st St. N.W
Washington, DC

$250 “Event Sponsor” (3 tickets Included)
$100 “Scholarship Booster” (2 tickets Included)
** Please pay in advance with PayPal to isu.nao.pp@isu.isunet.edu

$25 General Admission; $15 Student
RSVP michael.freeradical@gmail.com
Contact: Michael Potter 310-990-8803

5:00pm Doors Open
5:30pm Introductions & Film Followed by Director’s Q&A
6:30pm Closing Reception

“Join this band of rebels out to change the course of history in space, as they board a private Gulf Stream jet, fly to Russia and negotiate one of the most remarkable business deals of the final frontier. “

Supporting Institutions
American Astronautical Society
Space Frontier Foundation
ISU-USA Alumni Association
Society of Satellite Professionals International
National Space Society
Women In Aerospace

All gifts to the International Space University are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. A non-deductible cost of $15 per person must be accounted for in reporting this philanthropic gift for those attending the reception. Donations benefit ISU’s Arthur C. Clarke Fellowship Endowment and General Scholarship Fund and the George Washington University Space Policy Institute Fund for ISU Scholarships.

The documentary film “Orphans of Apollo” is the greatest space story never told. The film tells the extraordinary true story of a small group of entrepreneurs who felt, ‘orphaned’ by President Nixon’s decision to end the NASA Apollo Moon program and the subsequent years of nominal space activity. This band of brothers took matters into their own hands, and commandeered the Russian Mir Space Station, behind the backs of NASA and the US government. The rebellious, yet pioneering efforts launched the new commercial Space Revolution. This is the remarkable untold story of the greatest secret in the new space race.

This dramatic tale chronicles the adventure of the boldest business plan the Earth has ever seen. ‘MirCorp’, the entrepreneurial company, commandeered the Russian space station to be an outpost for what was intended to be the first phase of a trillion dollar business. The project was to include mining of asteroids, gravity free laboratories, a space ‘hotel’, and a research facility. MirCorp was the ultimate start-up company, and unlike anything the universe had ever seen.

Join this band of rebels out to change the course of history in space, as they board a private Gulf Stream jet, fly to Russia, negotiate one of the most remarkable business deal of the final frontier. Follow this diverse group as they pioneer their way through this new business of space. Listen to the management team as they struggle with issues of branding, finance, technology, and engage in the ultimate slugfest with the most powerful governments and bureaucrats.

Can these dreamers replace the age old traditionally held approach to spaceflight with their radically new vision of individuals and private enterprise developing space for all of mankind? Can they go where no man has gone before?

As they venture into space to make billions, they also go having deep convictions, vision and idealism to save Earth, and live the dreams they were promised as children through the great achievements of the Apollo missions that held the world captive. They dream of resources captured in space and brought back to Earth having the potential to solve our planet’s energy problems. They dream of colonies on the Moon, and maybe one day even Mars. They dream, as any businessman with boyhood dreams of the endless possibilities that only the infinite imagination of space can make true.

Their story is the story of dreamers everywhere who know no bounds to their imagination, whether their feet are firmly planted here on earth or their hearts and minds are soaring through the infinite expanse of outer space.

Michael Potter, Director and Executive Producer

Becky Neiman, co-Director, Producer
Todd Jones, Producer, Editor
Kevin Foxe, Co-Producer
Keith Eddington, Co-Producer
Cathy Arreguin, Associate Producer
Evan Seplow, Graphics and Animation

First time documentary filmmaker Michael Potter, who is one degree of separation from most of the key players in this remarkable and historic epic, is an expert on international technology and business. Potter has published extensively on technology policy issues. He worked together with key figure in “Orphans of Apollo” Walt Anderson in creating a publicly traded pan-European telecommunications company. Potter previously worked on the 13 part WGBH Series, “War & Peace in the Nuclear Age.” He is a graduate of the London School of Economics.

The nice guys at NASA Ames Research Center mailed back the camera — and the pictures were still on it! Check out the Flickr photostream for evidence of NASA hospitality.

Michael’s notes for his talk before the movie:

We have arrived at a remarkable moment in history.

Today 51 years ago (Russian Time) Sputnik entered Earth’s orbit…becoming the first Earth satellite sent by humanity.

The New Space Revolution, of entrepreneurs pushing the world into space, stands firmly on the achievements of the small satellite Sputnik. Sputnik itself was the size of a beach ball but it transformed the world far greater then the largest nuclear weapon. This one peaceful satellite captured the imagination of everyone around the world,

And almost as importantly, 4 Years ago tomorrow California time, the $10 Million dollar X-Prize was won by SpaceShipOne.

Mir is the perfect microcosm of the entire space debate.

Mir covers all the big issues–everything from international politics to low cost access to orbit.

When people see the A for Anarchy symbol on the Orphans of Apollo poster, they often become a bit cautious and a bit concerned about this “underground” film.

But what unites these people in the film with this audience here?

First of all, despite all of the challenges, and many of the later complications facing many of the key subjects in this adventure…. they really express truly American Values. The drive to do what they believe is right. Even if the government has not caught up with them.

The MirCorp was an effort to accomplish a goal — smaller, faster, cheaper, in a similar spirit to Clementine and other results-oriented projects.

What is my goal with the film?

It is to try to understand the lessons learned from this remarkable story

Basic questions. Should we have worked with Russians? Was it successful? How could we have done things better? Smarter?

To generate debate.

But most importantly this is a discussion about leadership.

The leadership of great countries, spacefaring countries.

The leadership of humanity.

The leadership of great organizations.

The leadership of a band of brothers.

And right here in this room, all of those who are trying to move humanity to a better place … you are my Band of Brothers and Sisters.

Space Frontier Foundation Vision of the Future Winner
Orphans of Apollo Selected Documentary at Bend Film Festival

NYACK, New York – October 10, 2008

Orphans of Apollo, winner of the Space Frontier Foundation’s Vision of the Future 2008, makes its public debut this weekend at Bend Film Festival. Director Michael Potter will be available for a question and answer session, after the screening Saturday, October 11, 2:00 p.m.

Orphans of Apollo, created by first-time filmmaker/producer Michael Potter, was honored with the Space Frontier Foundation’s Vision of the Future Award on July 20, 2008, the 39th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing. The award was presented after a private screening for attendees at the Foundation’s annual conference, NewSpace 2008. Orphans of Apollo is the extraordinary true story of MirCorp, a rebel group of entrepreneurs who commandeered the Russian Mir space station-by leasing it from the Russian government. The film documents the pioneering efforts of bold men who fought to open space for all humanity and launched the New Space Revolution.

“This film really expresses the vision of the Space Frontier Foundation,” said William Watson, Foundation Executive Director. “It tells the story of past accomplishments, frustrated ambition and gives reason to hope for the future of opening the space frontier. MirCorp was ahead of its time.”

“This movie represents a substantial investment of energy, countless hours, and the talent of a great many people,” Michael Potter said, accepting the award. “It is humbling to be recognized for such an honor when we know there are people in the NewSpace movement who are bending metal, and doing everything they can to get us off this rock we call Earth. I accept this award on behalf of the entire Apollo generation that was orphaned by the U.S. government. Let’s celebrate in space!”

After the sneak preview in July, one previewer told Potter, “Over the last year I have been asking myself why I am putting so much energy into space activism. I just want to thank you for your film and for reminding me why I am so involved and so committed to the NewSpace movement.”

Potter commented, “These heartfelt and passionate responses are what continue to keep me engaged and fuel my efforts to tell The Greatest Space Story Never Told!”

Leading space journalist Jeff Foust previewed the July screening, saying: “To many in the entrepreneurial NewSpace community, [MirCorp founder] Walt Anderson is something of a folk hero.” Another sneak preview was well-received at NASA Ames Research Center on October 3.

For updates about Orphans of Apollo, visit its blog.

The Space Frontier Foundation presents annual awards to people, companies and institutions that have made the greatest contributions in the last year to opening the space frontier. Previous recipients of the Foundation’s “Vision of the Future” Award include Joss Whedon for the movie Serenity based on the television series “Firefly,” the movie “Fantastic Four” for its depiction of a commercial space station, Space Channel Canada for portraying space as accessible to everyone, and the IMAX Corporation for its production of “L-5 City in Space.”

Space Frontier Foundation
William J. Watson
Executive Director
wwatson@spacefrontierfoundation.org

NASA Ames Research Center hosted a sneak preview at the Ames auditorium last Friday. Introducing the movie, Center Director Pete Worden said he could confirm some of the facts in Orphans of Apollo, but the opinions expressed are entirely those of the speakers.

Michael noted that it was October 3 in California, but already October 4 in Russia — the 51st anniversary of Sputnik. October 4 is NASA’s 50th birthday and the fourth anniversary of SpaceShipOne’s X Prize-winning flight, so it was a fitting day to show this movie about a rebel band of space entrepreneurs and the Russian Mir space station to our friends at NASA.

Some Ames employees, contractors and interns we talked to after the screening said they had never heard about MirCorp’s attempt to save the the Mir, and are now curious to know more about the story.

We took photos — including a nice shot of student intern David Gomez in a pirate-themed t-shirt standing by the movie poster — but the camera was seized by NASA security. Just kidding! Some nice guys at Ames found the camera on a conference room table and mailed it back. Evidence will be posted on Flickr soon.

Russian cosmonauts working for MirCorp flew a pirate flag to the Mir space station in 2000, where they officially stamped and autographed the flag. In 2008, Rick Tumlinson transported this priceless, original pirate flag to an international conference in South Korea, where it was unfortunately stolen. A $1,000 reward is being offered for the safe return of the missing pirate flag. Anonymity is offered to the party able to arrange the safe return of the flag.