UCLA A.UD Ideas Lecture Series: May 12, 2015
Virgin Galactic – Building the Earth’s First Spaceline
From what Virgin Galactic does to where they are going, a look at why humanity needs them to succeed and what you can do to be a part of the mission.
Loretta Whitesides, Founder Astronaut
Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides has over five hours of weightless time in a 727 aircraft as a Flight Director for Zero-G Corporation. She and her husband George Whitesides are also signed up to take a sub-orbital spaceflight on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. Trained as an astrobiologist at Stanford and Caltech, Loretta has been to the Canadian Arctic to study plant life in extreme environments and to the hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean with Titanic director James Cameron to film a 3D IMAX documentary, Aliens of the Deep.
Virgin Galactic is building sub-orbital spaceships that will offer the magic and awe of space to people and allow them to bring that experience back to their communities to catalyze change and inspire humankind with what is possible. Our customers also signed on to help enable the birth of a new industry. Future spaceships could enable travelers to get to any city in the world in under an hour.
IDEAS LECTURES SERIES
The IDEAS Lecture Series charts a dynamic new future for architecture by engaging speakers from a broad range of disciplines. The series looks beyond the field’s traditional boundaries and explores topics arising from unexpected quarters—entertainment, automotive, aerospace, and tech industries—in order to explore rapidly emerging new technologies, possibilities for interdisciplinary growth, and the role of Los Angeles in the evolution of architecture. The Architecture and Urban Design IDEAS Lecture Series is generously supported by Paul and Herta Amir.
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