(FORTUNE Magazine) – FLIGHT SCHOOL IS A SPINOFF OF PC FORUM, A CONFAB RUN BY TECH EMINENCE ESTHER DYSON. ESTHER DECLARES THAT OPENING SPACE TO HUMAN COMMERCE SHOULD UNLEASH ENERGY LIKE NOTHING SINCE THE ADVENT OF THE INTERNET!

ESTHER DYSON, TECH EMINENCE

THE NIGHT BEGINS WITH A TALK BY NASA HONCHO BRUCE HOLMES. NEXT UP IS GEORGE BUTLER, DIRECTOR OF PUMPING IRON-THE MOVIE THAT MADE A STAR OF THE FUTURE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA! BUTLER SHOWS A CLIP OF HIS NEW IMAX FILM ABOUT NASA'S ROBOT EXPEDITION TO MARS. HE HINTS THAT ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER IN 1976 WAS THE SAME AS SPACE IS NOW: A MASSIVE, AS-YET-UNACKNOWLEDGED ATTRACTION.

AFTER DINNER, GROUPS OF ATTENDEES, DRINKS IN HAND, ORBIT THE ROOM. THE CONVERSATIONS ARE A SPELLBINDING WHIRL OF BRAINY APERCUS AND AUDACIOUS VISIONS.

THE REAL STORY BEGINS NOT WHEN PEOPLE GO INTO SPACE, BUT WHEN CIVILIZATION GOES INTO SPACE!

ADEO RESSI, X-PRIZE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

THE NEXT DAY IS ALL PANELS. PEOPLE DISCUSS NEW TECHNOLOGY AND PAST FAILURES AND AIR TAXIS, WHILE IN THE AIR THERE'S THE COSMIC BACKGROUND BUZZ OF DEALS BEING MADE . . .

EXPLORATION WITHOUT EXPLOITATION IS EMPTY!

JEFFREY GREASON, CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, AND CEO, XCOR INDUSTRIES

IN ATTENDANCE IS GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER LARRY PAGE. NOT HERE, BUT EXERTING POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON THE PROCEEDINGS, ARE PAUL ALLEN, BACKER OF SPACESHIPONE, AND JEFF BEZOS, WHO'S BUILDING A SPACEPORT IN TEXAS!

JEFF

LARRY

PAUL

PHYSICIST BRADLEY EDWARDS DESCRIBES HIS SPACE ELEVATOR: A THREE-FOOT-WIDE PAPER-THIN SHEET OF CARBONIZED NANOTUBE COMPOSITES THAT WOULD HANG DOWN TO THE EARTH FROM GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT. CLIMBING DEVICES WOULD CARRY MATERIAL TO THE TOP. FROM THERE IT WOULD BE EASY TO GET TO THE MOON OR MARS, USING CENTRIFUGAL FORCE TO AID PROPULSION!

ZERO GRAVITY CEO PETER DIAMANDIS TELLS HOW HE DEVELOPED THE $10 MILLION ANSARI X-PRIZE, THE COMPETITION THAT RESULTED IN THE HISTORIC SUBORBITAL VOYAGES OF SPACESHIPONE LAST YEAR. HE SAYS HE WAS INSPIRED BY THE AVIATION CONTESTS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY. LATE IN THE DAY NASA ANNOUNCES ITS OWN SPACE CONTESTS.

LINDBERGH FLEW FOR A PRIZE!

BUT AS FOR MAKING MONEY . . .

THERE'S THE OLD JOKE: HOW DO YOU BECOME A MILLIONAIRE IN THE SPACE BUSINESS? START OUT AS A BILLIONAIRE!

ERIC ANDERSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, SPACE ADVENTURES

. . . THE SECTOR THAT SEEMS TO BE DOING THAT IS SPACE TOURISM, THE BUSINESS OF BLASTING MILLIONAIRES INTO ORBIT (TWO SO FAR, AT $20 MILLION A POP, $19.5 MILLION OF WHICH COVERS EXPENSES). BUT EVERYONE HERE SEEMS AWARE THAT IT TAKES JUST ONE CATASTROPHE TO BRING A PROMISING NEW TRAVEL INDUSTRY TO AN END . . .

STILL, MAN'S YEARNINGS FOR THE STARS ARE UNQUENCHABLE.

THE FUTURE WE HAVE NOW WITHOUT SPACE IS A DEAD END!

RICK TUMLINSON, PRESIDENT, SPACE FRONTIER FOUNDATION

THE APOGEE OF THE CONFERENCE IS A SPEECH BY LEGENDARY PHYSICIST FREEMAN DYSON- ESTHER'S DAD! HE TALKS ABOUT PROJECT ORION, A SECRET GOVERNMENT SPACESHIP PROGRAM, INSPIRED BY SPUTNIK IN 1958. ORION'S SHIPS WOULD HAVE BEEN PROPELLED BY NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS. (THE PROGRAM WAS DISCONTINUED IN THE 1960S.)

THE THING COULD'VE FLOWN . . . IT WOULD HAVE CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY!

DYSON ENVISIONS COLONIES ON ASTEROIDS. HE SPEAKS OF THE DYSON SPHERE, A PLAN TO ENCLOSE A STAR WITH AN ENERGY-ABSORBING SHELL, PROVIDING LIMITLESS POWER. THIS PLAYED A ROLE ON STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. WE EVEN GET TO SEE THE VIDEOCLIP.

MR. DATA, COULD THIS BE A DYSON

SPHERE?

THE CONFEREES LOVE DYSON'S EVERY WORD. HE'S LIKE AN EMISSARY FROM ANOTHER TIME, WHEN BOLD MEN DREAMED BIG AND ACTED DECISIVELY.

WE NEEDED A GLORIFIED COKE MACHINE TO DELIVER THE BOMBS AT THE RIGHT

TIME!

WHAT IF YOU RAN OUT OF QUARTERS?

DYSON'S RECOMMENDATION FOR INCREASING PUBLIC INTEREST IN SPACE: SELL IT LIKE SPORTS . . .

IT IS AN INTERNATIONAL SPORTING EVENT! IT IS FUN!

. . . AS COMPETITION REENTERS THE PICTURE, AND CHINA, RUSSIA, JAPAN, AND OTHER COUNTRIES DEVELOP THEIR OWN SPACE PROGRAMS.

THE CONFERENCE HAS BEEN A TRIUMPH, ACCORDING TO ESTHER.

120 PEOPLE WERE HERE TODAY, AND I HOPE IN A FEW YEARS, 300 PEOPLE WILL SAY THEY WERE HERE!

IT'S ALL BEEN VERY EXCITING. YET YOU CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER: IS IT WISE TO HAVE THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT US THE INTERNET IN CHARGE OF SPACE TRAVEL?

WE NEED THOSE JETS BACK UP, PRONTO!

I CAN'T GET PAST THESE POP-UP ADS!