MIT Lecture Series Committee

unrated
52 minutes

view trailer

format: Blu-Ray

Orphans of Apollo (2008)

FREE Admission and a Q&A with Director Michael Potter

The space program and its uncertain funding have recently been at the top of national news. Commercialization of space and the role of the USA has been a common topic of debate among political figures throughout the year. But while the current state of the space program remains in question as a new Congress takes office, Boston is bringing a documentary pioneer to the screen. LSC, along with MIT's Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) host a free public screening of Michael Potter's Orphans of Apollo.

The free screening of the film will be followed by a question and answer session with the director. Filmgoers are encouraged to bring questions, ideas and topics of discussion to this once in a lifetime event.

The documentary film Orphans of Apollo 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 minimal 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 effort 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. [www.orphansofapollo.com]