IN THE NEWS
2020
Institute of Space Commerce Announces Space Achievement Winners:
Top 10 Space Commerce Events & Space Entertainment
Best Classic Space Entrepreneurial Documentary “Orphans of Apollo”
2019
Song “Orphans of Apollo”
Walter Anderson
Living the dream man
Living the dream man
https://edborrie.bandcamp.com/track/orphans-of-apollo
August 25, 2016
“The orphans of Apollo There is no compelling need for people in space, but they will keep going anyway” - Economist
“The “orphans of Apollo”, to borrow the title of a documentary film..”
https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2016/08/25/the-orphans-of-apollo
May 22, 2012
Filmmaker behind ‘Orphans of Apollo’ Film Shares Significance of SpaceX’s Historic Flight
“Potter brings a unique perspective to today’s events as the documentary filmmaker behind “Orphans of Apollo,” the extraordinary true story of a rebel group of entrepreneurs who seized command of the Russian Mir Space Station in what could be considered the boldest business plan the Earth has ever seen.”
November 18, 2011
Smithsonian Institution - National Air and Space Museum
Moving Beyond Earth: Innovations in Space
https://airandspace.si.edu/events/moving-beyond-earth-innovations-space
May 2013
WHAT SPACEGEEKS WATCH: MY SPACE DOCUMENTARIES TOP 5
Orphans of Apollo is my absolute favorite space documentary. It is the compelling story of a band of entrepreneurs that tried to privatize the Russian space station MIR. Director and producer Michael Potter had an insider look in what happened behind the scenes. In a few decades or so, this documentary will be one of the cultural gems that provide light and understanding to the start of the NewSpace era.
http://www.eyeonorbit.com/2013/05/what-spacegeeks-watch-my-space.html
March 21, 2011
“ORPHANS OF APOLLO”
“What would space travel look like if the Russian Mir space station had been bought by rogue entrepreneurs and kept in orbit for private enterprises to use? No doubt it would have accelerated today's feverish race to develop space tourism and been a catalyst for other commercial enterprises.”
http://www.designcurial.com/news/orphans-of-apollo
June 2010
Final frontier filmmaker Michael Potter
Another reason for the greatness of the story is how prescient Anderson appears in retrospect. Entrepreneurs are now being welcomed into space, and the post-Anderson years lend even more credence to his belief that the remarkably inexpensive Mir station should have been used by someone, instead of being thrown over for the vastly more expensive International Space Station that came next.
https://easyreadernews.com/final-frontier-filmmaker-michael-potter/
May 2010
The Space Show
Guest: Michael Potter. Topics: "Orphans of Apollo," commercial space. Michael Potter was the guest to discuss his documentary film, "Orphans of Apollo"
https://www.thespaceshow.com/show/27-may-2010/broadcast-1369-special-edition
July 24, 2009
“Michael Potter Battles Science Guy Bill Nye on Moon Mission”
“Potter says yes – with a slimmed down NASA and the support of the private sector: The lesson of the last 40 years is that the government has proved it can run neither efficient nor sustainable space activities. More than at any moment in its history, NASA needs the private sector to play a critical role in space exploration. At the signing of the next big commercial deal between NASA and a private company, let us hear the celebratory toast, “To the moon and beyond!”
July 23, 2009
Spacevidcast Live - Orphans of ApolloThe Director and producer of "Orphans of Apollo", Michael Potter joins us for this latest epicsode!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF3Y6phQsp8
April 21, 2009
Movie review: Orphans of Apollo
“Captivating both visually and intellectually, Orphans of Apollo presents an inside look at the challenge of conquering space from outside the context of a governmental space agency. It shows that political and financial influences can reach far beyond the Earth's atmosphere, but that imagination and determination are as powerful as any rocket fuel.”
https://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2009/04/21/movie-review-orphans-of-apoll
April 2, 2009
The Galactic Purchase of a Russian Space Station
Feb 28, 2009
“Orphans Of Apollo at GWU”
Listening to Michael Potter speak at an event sponsored by the George Washington University Space Policy Institute is like seeing cars drive under the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. As a teenager I used to live in Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was one of the last things I saw in the city before I left. At the time there were groups of heavily armed soldiers about 20 yards apart, on each side of the Brandenburg gate, with guns pointed at each other. No one had passed through the gate in decades. Now there is a major street running under the gate when I first saw a picture of it as it is now I stared for 10 minutes trying to get my head around the concept. I feel like that now. The Space Policy Institute under Dr. Scott Pace is a fundamentally different place than it was a year ago.
https://space.nss.org/orphans-of-apollo-at-gwu/
July 28, 2008
“Preview: Orphans of Apollo”
“Had the markets not tanked, or if their timing had been a little different, it’s an interesting exercise to wonder what would have happened to the company and the station. With funding in place, MirCorp could have held on long enough to get the tether to the station which—assuming it worked—would have raised the station’s orbit and bought the company some time. Perhaps Mir, and not the ISS, would have become the destination of choice for space tourists like Tito. Or, perhaps, some other financial, political, or technical pitfall would have befallen the station and company.”