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Michael Potter is an entrepreneur, documentary filmmaker, author, and social enterprise investor.
Potter graduated with a BA in Government from the California State University, Sacramento and a minor in Business Administration. [1] He received a Master's of Science from the London School of Economics, and a certificate in Space Studies from the International Space University (ISU SSP'88). [1]
Potter runs a family investment firm, Paradigm Ventures, which focuses on new strategies for analyzing and developing high-technology ventures. One of the companies they have invested in is Global Connect. [2] Michael Potter is also the current vice chairman of Manna Energy Foundation and is the Founder of the NGO, Geeks without Frontiers. [3] [4] These two foundations focuses on the eradication of poverty through the use of social entrepreneurship. Manna currently has projects in Rwanda and Kenya involving the installation of biogas generators, high-efficiency wood stoves and solar-powered water-purification systems. [3] Geeks without Frontiers is currently developing an open source, Wi-Fi network bringing Internet access to undeveloped areas of Africa and developing the concept of Dig Once. [3] Michael Potter is currently a Senior Fellow at the International Institute of Space Commerce, an institute dedicated to the study and promotion of space industry [4]
Potter produced the documentary film "Do You Dream in Color," which premiered in 2014 at The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana. The documentary is the coming-of-age story of four courageous blind high school students as they strive to prove that their disability will not hold them back from achieving their dreams. [5] Potter also produced and directed the award-winning documentary film Orphans of Apollo, which premiered in 2008 at the New Space Conference in Crystal City, Virginia. The documentary is 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 space station. [6] [7] [8] [9] Potter's film was the winner of the Space Frontier Foundation's Vision of the Future 2008. Potter previously worked on the thirteen part WGBN Series, War and Peace in the Nuclear Age. [4] [10] He currently has two other documentaries in production, The University [11] about the founding of Singularity University, and Immortality of Bust, [12] about the Transhuman Candidate for President in 2016.
Potter wrote a chapter of the "Handbook of Cosmic Hazards & Planetary Defense," edited by Dr. Joe Pelton & William Ailor, Aerospace Corporation, James Green, NASA, Michael Marov, of the Russian Academy of Science, and Tommaso Sgobba, Executive Director of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, Spring Press 2015 (to be published). [13] His essay, included as a chapter in this handbook, is called "The Greatest Planetary Defense Gap: Operation & Execution," and was published in 2014. His entire essay can be found at: . He also wrote a White Paper entitled "Innovative Models for Private Financing of Space Science Mission," which argues that the issue of space financing is not only an area primed for significant growth but also one of extreme and continuing importance to humanity. [14] This entire White Paper can be found at: . Potter also recently published a White Paper entitled "Vision to Bring BroadBand to the Next Billion" on iTunes Books, which discusses a clear road map that will contribute to the overall aim of bringing broadband to three billion people by the year 2020—the ‘Communications Singularity.’ However, it is also focused on helping to bring the additional billion people on to the internet who are mostly based in rural and village areas in developing countries. The entire White Paper can be found here: . He co-authored a chapter in the book, "International Cooperation for the Development of Space" (Volume I). The chapter he co-authored is Chapter 2012, entitled, "The 100 Year Starship Endeavor." He co-authored this chapter alongside Jeffrey Nosanov. [15] In addition, he co-authored a chapter of "International Lunar Initiative Organization," which was published in 1992 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He co-authored Chapter 3, entitled "Organization, Policy, and Law.". [16] He also wrote "The Real Intellectual Origins of Smaller, Faster, Cheaper: An Underground Student Movement," printed in San Francisco in 1995. Potter was given an acknowledgment page in the 1991 science fiction novel, "Lunar Descent" by Allen Steele. He was also a contributor to "The Nuclear Age Reader," edited by Jeffrey Porro, and published in New York in 1989 by Alfred A. Knopf Inc.
In his article, “Human Rights in the Space Age: An International and Legal Political Analysis,” Potter focuses on space and human rights issues that have collided in the areas of satellite broadcasting and receiving, remote sensing, and technology transfer. He explores the possibilities of how "space age" technologies and the exploration of the final frontier could transform the way we think about human rights. In the article, “Swords into Ploughshares: Missiles as Commercial Launchers”, Potter discusses the legal and policy implications of a commercial launch vehicle based on the SS-20 missile after the signing of an INF arms control treaty in 1987 resulted in a surplus of missiles. [17] Potter has published many articles in, “Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space” focusing on international law and space, such as: “The Outer Space Cyberspace Nexus - Satellite Crimes”; [18] “European Regulation of Competitive Satellite Services - Battling the Cartel and the Monopolies”; [19] and “International Satellite Organizations- from Monopoly to Cartel.”. [20]
Potter worked as an international telecommunications analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C. [1] [4] Michael Potter was one of the founders of Esprit Telecom, a European telecommunications company, where he was president until leaving to establish Paradigm Ventures. [1] [2] [21] [22] At Esprit Telecom Potter had 1,000 employees in over nine European countries and a market capitalization of a billion US dollars. [4] [22] Potter also was a founding member of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, [1] [21] an organization which lobbied for deregulation of telecommunications markets across Europe. [2] [23] Potter has written a number of articles about high technology, business, and policy.
Potter is a director of the company Odyssey Moon, which is the first company to register to compete for the Google Lunar X Prize. [24] [25]
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times Earth's diameter. The Moon always presents the same side to Earth, because gravitational pull has locked its rotation to the planet. This results in the lunar day of 29.5 Earth days matching the lunar month. The Moon's gravitational pull – and to a lesser extent the Sun's – are the main drivers of the tides.
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites the previous year; the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, beginning the Cold War Space Race between the two nations.
PAO S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, also known as RSC Energia, is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. The company is the prime developer and contractor of the Russian crewed spaceflight program; it also owns a majority of Sea Launch. Its name is derived from Sergei Korolev, the first chief of its design bureau, and the Russian word for energy.
Colonization of the Moon is a process or concept employed by some proposals for robotic or human exploitation and settlement endeavours on the Moon. Settling of the Moon is, therefore, a more specific concept of lunar habitation, for which the broader concept of colonization is often used as a synonym, a use that is contested in the light of colonialism.
Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey or Chelomei was a Soviet engineer and designer in the missile program of the former Soviet Union. He invented the first Soviet pulse jet engine and was responsible for the development of the world's first anti-ship cruise missiles and the ICBM program of the Soviet Union such as the UR-100, UR-200, UR-500 and UR-700.
Walter C. Anderson is an American entrepreneur, investor, and advocate for commercial space travel. He began his career in telecommunications and founded several companies including Mid-Atlantic Telecom in 1984 and Esprit Telecom in 1992, which were acquired by Frontier Communications and Global TeleSystems Group, respectively. He co-founded the International Space University and provided financial support for the Space Frontier Foundation during its creation. Anderson also invested in a number of space ventures including Rotary Rocket, a company that attempted to develop a reusable, single-stage launch vehicle with the aid of helicopter rotors. He founded MirCorp, an unsuccessful venture to privatize the Mir space station, and Orbital Recovery Corporation, a company developing technology to capture and repair telecommunication satellites.
The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is a scientific research institute dedicated to study of the solar system, its formation, evolution, and current state. The Institute is part of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and is supported by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Located at 3600 Bay Area Boulevard in Houston, Texas, the LPI is an intellectual leader in lunar and planetary science. The Institute serves as a scientific forum attracting world-class visiting scientists, postdoctoral fellows, students, and resident experts; supports and serves the research community through newsletters, meetings, and other activities; collects and disseminates planetary data while facilitating the community's access to NASA astromaterials samples and facilities; engages and excites the public about space science; and invests in the development of future generations of scientists. The LPI sponsors and organizes several workshops and conferences throughout the year, including the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) held in March in the Houston area.
Dwayne Allen Day is an American space historian and policy analyst and served as an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
Spaceflight began in the 20th century following theoretical and practical breakthroughs by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and Hermann Oberth. First successful large-scale rocket programs were initiated in the 1920s Germany by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier, and eventually in Nazi Germany by Wernher von Braun. The Soviet Union took the lead in the post-war Space Race, launching the first satellite, the first man and the first woman into orbit. The United States caught up with, and then passed, their Soviet rivals during the mid-1960s, landing the first men on the Moon in 1969. In the same period, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and China were concurrently developing more limited launch capabilities.
Jeffrey Manber is regarded as one of the pioneering commercial space entrepreneurs. As CEO of NanoRacks, from 2009, Manber has steered the growth of the first company to own and market its own hardware and services on board the International Space Station. Manber has been involved in several of the key breakthrough commercial space projects, principally those revolving around the commercialization of space assets as well as the integration of the Russian space industry into major space programs, including that of the International Space Station. Manber is believed to be the only American to be an official part of the Russian space corporation, RSC Energia, during their privatization period of the 1990s.
Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France.
Robert A. Citron, often called Bob Citron was an American entrepreneur and aerospace engineer who was born in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at the University of the Philippines and aeronautical engineering from Northrop University (1953–1959). Citron helped establish and manage the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Operation Moonwatch and Precision Optical Satellite Tracking Programs (STP) after the launch of Sputnik I in 1957. He founded or co-founded five companies dealing with documentary film production, publishing, space research and space logistics support, reusable satellite launch systems, and Lunar transportation and logistics. Citron also started three nonprofit foundations dealing with scientific field research. He died on January 31, 2012, at his home in Bellevue, Washington, at the age of 79, due to complications from prostate cancer.
The Moon Lightweight Interior and Telecoms Experiment (MoonLITE), was a proposed British space mission to explore the Moon and develop techniques for future space exploration. If funded, it would have been built by a consortium of UK industry likely including Surrey Satellite Technology, and it was planned to be launched into lunar orbit in 2014. The mission concept emerged from a study run by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in 2006. In December 2008, the British National Space Centre announced that the project was moving to a 12-month Phase A study of the mission systems and the planned penetrators.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA currently supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, the Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station.
Space research is scientific study carried out in outer space, and by studying outer space. From the use of space technology to the observable universe, space research is a wide research field. Earth science, materials science, biology, medicine, and physics all apply to the space research environment. The term includes scientific payloads at any altitude from deep space to low Earth orbit, extended to include sounding rocket research in the upper atmosphere, and high-altitude balloons.
The Planetary Science Decadal Survey is a serial publication of the United States National Research Council produced for NASA and other United States Government Agencies such as the National Science Foundation. The documents identify key questions facing planetary science and outlines recommendations for space and ground-based exploration ten years into the future. Missions to gather data to answer these big questions are described and prioritized, where appropriate. Similar decadal surveys cover astronomy and astrophysics, earth science, and heliophysics.
Orphans of Apollo is a 2008 documentary film analyzing the embryonic private spaceflight movement of the turn of the millennium, through MirCorp's attempt to privatize and save the Mir space station.
Brian Harvey is a space writer, author and broadcaster who lives in Ireland, Brian Harvey has long written about China's space program as well as the space programs of India and Japan. He has written articles on spaceflight from the 1970s in such magazines as Orbit, Astronomy and Space, Go Taikonauts! and Spaceflight and for newspapers such as the Sunday Press and the Irish Independent. His articles have been published in Astronomy Now, Space Quarterly, Space Policy, ROOM, the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, Space Chronicle, Zenit and Quest.
