The Space Frontier Foundation will host the
Clarke Gala at the Playoy Mansion on November 15, 2001. Our Master of Ceremonies
is Larry King and the Co-chairs are Buzz Aldrin, James Cameron, Frank Drake of SETI,
Hugh Heffner, James Lovell, actor Bill Paxton and Alvin Toffler, noted business author
and futurist.
At the fundraising black-tie event we will be announcing the Arthur Clarke award for
best presentation of space in film and TV, and the Arthur Clarke screenwriting award and competition.
Below is a summary of the event and a list of the beneficiaries.
On November 15, the Space Frontier Foundation will host a gala dinner at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles to honor Sir
Arthur C. Clarke, eminent author and scientist, before the year 2001 comes to an end. Reflecting many of the central themes
in Sir Clarke’s work, 2001 marks the beginning of a new era in space exploration and development. The assembly of Space
Station Alpha, humanities’ first permanent outpost in space, points the way towards that new future of greater international
cooperation, involving, as it does, nations who were former adversaries.
We hope that this Gala will also celebrate the union of great storytellers and space exploration. It is a long and honorable
tradition, which includes the likes of H.G. Hells, Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick and others. Such artists
have inspired us over the years to grasp the grandeur, beauty, and drama of humanity’s venture outward to the stars.
Consequently, the “2001” Gala will be the occasion to announce a series of awards that will be given out annually. The
Arthur C. Clarke Award for Film & Television and the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Screenplay will recognize work that
best represents the realistic and compelling portrayal of the human exploration and settlement of space.
The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization of space activists, scientists and engineers, media and political
professionals, entrepreneurs, and citizens from all backgrounds and all nations. The organization’s central goals are the
expansion of life beyond the Earth and the permanent settlement of space. We believe all people have the “right stuff” and that
everyone will benefit from opening the space frontier. We believe that a partnership between the heroes of our space programs
and the democratic and free enterprise pioneers who are now taking on the frontier will become an unstoppable force in the
opening of this new domain to the life and people of Earth.
This event will benefit several space related charitable organizations and projects. They encompass several aspects of the work
going on today to open space, inspire our culture and provide new opportunities for the children of tomorrow. Permission to
Dream Permission to Dream is an international project of the Space Frontier Foundation, using space to inspire and motivate
underprivileged children. The project’s first phase is “focused” on placing telescopes and computers in the hands of children in
three very different and disadvantaged areas of the world, Sri Lanka, Africa and East Los Angeles. Under the guidance of world
famous astronomer Alan Hale (co-discoverer of the comet Hale-Bopp) students will be asked to seek out and describe celestial
objects such as planets, stars, comets and asteroids and then to interact with each other via the internet – connecting them with
each other and the cosmos.
Headed by Gemini-Apollo astronaut James. A. Lovell (its President and Chairman of the Board) the Astronaut Scholarship
Foundation was established in 1984 by the six surviving members of America’s Mercury Seven astronauts, Malcolm Scott
Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Walter M. Schirra, the late Alan B. Shepard Jr. and the late Donald K.
(Deke) Slayton. The foundation raises money for scholarships for upper level college students and those pursuing masters or
doctorates in the fields of science and engineering.
ACCMT was created in 1984 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to support the development of modern technologies in the fields of
Communications, Computers, Energy, Space Technologies and Robotics, through the provision of training and research
facilities. The institute has the infrastructure and human resources for development of products, systems and techniques for
industrial applications in electronics, communications and IT (ECI) sectors, with exports in mind. Besides extensive R&D
activities, the Institute is heavily involved in continuing professional development (CPD) activities and youth training
programs.
The Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) is an international, interdisciplinary field research program studying the Haughton
meteorite impact crater and its surrounding terrain on Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada, located inside the Arctic Circle.
Implemented through a cooperative agreement between the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research center, HMP research
focuses on Devon Island as an ‘Earth analog’ for the planet Mars, and comprises two main programs: comparative geological
and biological studies between Earth and Mars, and research on the technologies, strategies and factors relevant to the future
exploration of Mars and other planets by robots and humans. Funds from this event will be focused on educational outreach
and support of this important project.
The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization of people dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to
human settlement as rapidly as possible. Our goals include protecting the Earth’s fragile biosphere and
creating a freer and more prosperous life for each generation by using the unlimited energy and material
resources of space. Our purpose is to unleash the power of free enterprise and lead a united humanity
permanently into the Solar System.
For information on the Foundation, call 1-800-78SPACE or visit our web site at www.space-frontier.org. Our e-mail address
is information@space-frontier.org.
