 |
|
THE GOLDEN ROCKET
Awards aplenty for RRL co-founder Diamandis
You don’t choose to be a visionary. There’s no school curriculum that trains you to be one. You’ll find no ‘Visionary Wanted’ in the classifieds. And there’s the ever-present challenge of explaining to people what it is you do for a living. Visionary is the path less chosen, the long way around, the hard road.
Being a successful visionary is even rarer and harder. The flip side is that successful visionaries tend to be rich, in charge of their own destinies and have shelves full of awards at home in the den.
By those standards, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis is a successful visionary. In recent days, he has collected a quartet of important awards, including the inaugural Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space, the Lindbergh Award, the WIRED Rave Award for Science and the Orbit Award from the Space Tourism Society.
And what is it that he’s done to merit all this recognition? Well, here are a few high points of his resume:
2005 – 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.
With a CV like that, its clear that Diamandis has for decades been a major motivator of the development of private and commercial space flight… and that the recognition he’s now getting is well-deserved.
“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.”
The Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization 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.”
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.
“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.”
On May 17, 2006, Dr. Diamandis was honored by WIRED Magazine, the magazine for what's next in business, technology and culture, with the WIRED Rave Award for Science. The award honors Dr. Diamandis for rejuvenating the use of prizes to accelerate scientific research and technological development.
"This year's Rave Award winners have challenged conventional wisdom, defied critics and created something genuinely new to transform our culture," said Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of Wired Magazine. "They inspire new ideas and most of all, they inspire us."
“I’m excited about the future of spaceflight and scientific discovery,” said Diamandis, Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, CEO of Zero Gravity Corporation and Chairman and Co-Founder of Rocket Racing League®. “WIRED was one of the first cover the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE and we look forward to entertaining their readers with similar successes as we inspire new breakthroughs in the decades ahead.”
Two days later, at a reception that took place on May 19, 2006 at the Minnesota History center in St. Paul, MN, The Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation honored Dr. Diamandis with a 2006 Lindbergh Award. Dr. Diamandis was honored for his dedicated efforts toward achieving the Lindbergh’s vision of balance. His ability to inspire the brightest minds on earth to tackle the world’s most pressing issues represents the spirit of the Lindbergh Foundation as well as its namesake.
“The Lindbergh Foundation’s mission of promoting balance between technological advancement and preservation of the environment is exemplified by Dr. Diamandis,” said Erik Lindbergh, the Vice Chairman of the Lindbergh Foundation, as well as, test pilot and spokesperson for the Rocket Racing League® and former Vice President and member of the Board of Trustees for the X PRIZE Foundation. “Under Dr. Diamandis' direction, The X PRIZE Foundation has unleashed the potential for incentive prizes to be applied to the great technical, social, and environmental problems of our time. Our future quality of life both on and off this planet will depend on the vision and energy of people like Peter who have the energy, drive and enthusiasm to create meaningful solutions to the myriad issues we face in this modern age."
“Given the origins of the X PRIZE Foundation this award means so much to me personally and professionally” said Diamandis. “The Lindbergh Family has been a wonderful inspiration throughout the years and I look forward to continuing the heroic tradition of Charles Lindbergh with many new prizes.”
www.rocketracingleague.com
www.heinleinprize.com
www.lindberghfoundation.org
www.xprize.org
www.raveawards.com
www.spacetourismsociety.org
|
 |
 |
|
|
