Space Technology Hall of Fame Dinner to Feature Bill Nye the Science Guy®

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 13, 2009) — Technology is serious business – but understanding it doesn’t have to be. In this spirit, the Space Foundation has chosen Bill Nye the Science Guy® to entertain and inform the audience at the Space Technology Hall of Fame Dinner April 2 at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Since 1988, the Space Technology Hall of Fame, in cooperation with NASA, has had the more serious responsibility of honoring those who transform technology originally developed for space exploration into products and services that help improve the quality of life here on Earth. Dozens of technologies and hundreds of individuals and organizations have since been recognized. Visit www.SpaceTechHallofFame.org for more detail.

The dinner is the capstone event of the 25th National Space Symposium, the premier annual gathering of the global space community, which takes place March 30 – April 2 at The Broadmoor Hotel. The April 2 Space Technology Hall of Fame Dinner is open to Symposium attendees and the general public.

Scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, Bill Nye uses humor to foster a scientifically literate society. Always fascinated with “how things work” and experienced as a tutor from his high school days in Washington, D.C., Mr. Nye earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and worked as an engineer at Boeing in Seattle before becoming a world-famous one-of-a-kind science comedian.

The “Bill Nye the Science Guy®” television series originated in Seattle and then moved to PBS, where it now enjoys wide syndication. The show has won 28 Emmy Awards and Mr. Nye has won seven for writing, performing, and producing. He is the author of five children’s books about science and has hosted “The 100 Greatest Discoveries” on the Science Channel and “The Eyes of Nye” on PBS. He is a member of the Planetary Society’s Board of Directors and serves as part of the Frank H.T. Rhodes Visiting Professorship at Cornell. He holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Goucher College.

“Bill Nye the Science Guy is the perfect Space Technology Hall of Fame speaker because he embodies our belief that technology should be accessible, relevant and a natural part of our everyday lives.” said Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham. “And, because he himself has invented space technology.”

Always interested in sundials, Mr. Nye worked with Cornell students and Woody Sullivan, a University of Washington professor, astronomer and sundial expert, to develop MarsDials – photometric calibration units based upon sundial design for the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers. Mr. Nye has two patents on educational products – a magnifier made of water and an abacus that does arithmetic like a computer – and he has a patent pending on a device to help people learn to throw a baseball better. His next patent is an improved toe shoe for ballerinas.

Presented by the Space Foundation, the 25th National Space Symposium brings together all sectors of space – civil, commercial, national security, new space entrepreneurship, and finance – to highlight accomplishments and address opportunities and issues facing the global space community today. Its theme The Next Space Age focuses on major shifts in the economies, philosophies, and mechanics of the global space industry.

The symposium offers workshops, forums, panels and presentations covering all aspects of space, a number of special dinners and luncheons and presentation of several prestigious space-related awards, including the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award, the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award, the Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award, the Space Achievement Award, and the John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration. The Symposium concludes with the Space Technology Hall of Fame Dinner – now in its 22nd year. Hall of Fame inductees will be announced soon.

The Symposium also includes extensive programs for selected teachers and students, a space technology career fair, and the Boeing Exhibit Center representing more than 140 organizations and companies. More than 7,500 registrants, guests, speakers, exhibitors, and media representatives from around the world are expected to attend.

Co-sponsors of the symposium include The Aerospace Corporation, Aerojet, a.i. solutions, Analytical Graphics, Inc, ATK, ARES Corporation, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boeing, Cisco Systems, Inc., Cobham, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Hitachi Consulting, Infinite Links, Intelsat General Corporation, International Space University, ITT, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, The Mitre Corporation, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Raytheon, Regis University, SEAKR Engineering, Inc., SAIC, Stellar Solutions, United Launch Alliance, United Space Alliance, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and Webster University. Media partners are Aviation Week, Space News, and Via Satellite.

Online registration and more information, including an updated program agenda, confirmed speaker list, and exhibitor list, are available at www.NationalSpaceSymposium.org.

About the Space Foundation
Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is an international nonprofit organization advancing space-related endeavors to inspire, enable, and propel humanity. A leader in space awareness activities, major industry events, and educational enterprises that bring space into the classroom, the Space Foundation is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. It conducts research and analysis and government affairs activities from its Washington, D.C., office and has field representatives in Houston, Texas, and Cape Canaveral, Fla. In addition to the 25th National Space Symposium, the Space Foundation, along with partnering organizations, will also conduct Space Business Forum: New York on June 4, 2009, in New York, N.Y., and Strategic Space and Defense 2009 from Oct. 6 – 8, 2009, in Omaha, Neb. For more information, visit www.SpaceFoundation.org.

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