Java and Service-Oriented Architecture Tools Bring Java Developers to the Edge of Space

ORACLE OPENWORLD, San Francisco – Oracle today announced The Oracle Space Sweepstakes, designed to help software developers increase their understanding and use of leading edge Java and Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) development technologies.  By demonstrating expertise with Internet technologies and knowledge of Oracle’s development tools and Oracle Application Server, participants can enter for a chance to win a journey to suborbital space from Space Adventures, Ltd., the world’s leading space experiences company.  The sweepstakes launched Dec. 5, 2004 in conjunction with the first day of Oracle OpenWorld San Francisco, running Dec. 5-9 at Moscone Center.

Developers will have several chances to demonstrate their knowledge in a series of quizzes focused on their knowledge and expertise with the latest Java and SOA technologies, including Struts, J2EE persistence / EJB 3.0, Java coding and optimization, Application Development Frameworks, JavaServer Faces, Application deployment and manageability and Web Services and Business Process Execution Language (BPEL).  Participants will also test Oracle JDeveloper 10g, Oracle Application Server Containers for J2EE (OC4J) 10g, Oracle BPEL Process Manager 10g and Oracle TopLink 10g to successfully complete the Oracle Space Sweepstakes quizzes. 

Oracle Brings Developers to Suborbital Space with Cutting-Edge Technology

One Oracle Space Sweepstakes winner will be selected to participate in a suborbital spaceflight to experience weightlessness and view the earth from 62 miles above its surface.   They will have the unique opportunity to participate in the historic birth of commercial space travel and help set the stage for future generations of explorers.  In addition to one suborbital flight, Oracle is also giving away two Mac PowerBooks , five Apple iPods and 10 “Star Wars” trilogy DVD sets.

Participants can register through the Oracle Space Sweepstakes homepage at

http://space.oracle.com.  Once registered, participants must complete online quizzes that are based on specific developer topics.  Official rules can be found at http://space.oracle.com.  Each successfully completed quiz is counted as an entry into the drawing (limit one entry per eligible person, per quiz).  New topics will be rolled out each month beginning in Dec. and concluding in May 2005.  Winners will be announced by June 30, 2005.

“Oracle’s Development Tools and Application Server are second to none, enabling developers to build Service Oriented Applications, rich User Interfaces and Business Processes much more productively – rather than just the ‘plumbing’ they experience from competing offerings, ” said Ted Farrell, chief architect, Application Development Tools Technology, Oracle Corp.  “We are the only vendor that allows newer Java developers to quickly become productive while minimizing tedious low-level coding for more experienced developers.  This sweepstakes highlights these features and challenges developers to win an opportunity that is literally, out of this world.”

“We are extremely excited to partner with Oracle to offer developers this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be among the first private citizens in space,” said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures.  “As humans, we have an inherent desire to explore our world and surroundings.  Suborbital space travel will enable thousands to experience what only a few hundred have before them.” 

Oracle’s suite of Application Development Tools offers a complete and flexible infrastructure for J2EE and SOA application development and deployment that is built on a scaleable, manageable and reliable grid-ready infrastructure.  It is the only vendor to provide developers with a 100 percent open J2EE productivity framework to improve efficiency without proprietary formats or vendor lock-in.  Developers also realize benefits using the fastest, lightest-with run-time Java Server, (Oracle Containers for J2EE) as well as the industry’s leading BPEL engine, Oracle BPEL Process Manager.

About Oracle

Oracle is the world’s largest enterprise software company.  For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com

About Space Adventures

Space Adventures, the only company to have successfully launched private tourists to the International Space Station, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia with an office in Moscow, Russia.  It offers a variety of programs such as Zero-Gravity and MiG flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts.  The company’s advisory board comprises Apollo 11 moonwalker, Buzz Aldrin, shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton, Robert (Hoot) Gibson, Charles Walker, Norm Thagard, Sam Durrance and Byron Lichtenberg, and Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott.  For more information, please visit www.spaceadventures.com.