WALL@BRANDEIS.BITNET (Matt) (08/25/88)
[Boston Globe, August 21, 1988]
A space college launches its grades
Stars from 20 nations end 8 weeks at MIT studying the final frontier
By Alexander Reid
Globe Staff
CAMBRIDGE - For nine weeks
this summer, more than 100
young visionaries from 20 coun-
ries cloistered themselves in the
labyrinth of classrooms and labo-
ratories at the Massachusetts ln-
stitute of Technology to research
and discuss mankind's prospects
in space.
They are all in their 30s and
2Os and are considered the best
and the brightest in space re-
search and exploration. And they
are all, in the words of Maria An-
tonietta Perlno, a nuclear engi-
neer from Italy, ``exhilarated by
the future in space.''
In a short, ebullient ceremony
yesterday morning, this group -
participants in the first academic
Session of the International Space
University - marked the end of
their time together in a gradu-
ation ceremony at MIT.
They talked of their experi-
ments, of their late-night debates
over the virtues of Marxism and
capitalism, of the frequent parties
- but mainly, they praised the
spirit of international cooperation
that was nurtured by the nine-
week session.
Peter H. Dimandis, 27, director
and a cofounder of ISU, called it
``the university's hidden agenda.''
``Besides the research, the tech-
nology and the ideas, we think
we've begun to create a close net-
work of future world leaders in
space exploration and develop-
ment. Space travel should not be a
one-nation endeavor. The intensi-
ty of the bonds and the friend-
ships we've seen here will eventu-
ally take us - mankind - Into
space.''
Dimandis and Todd B. Hawley,
27, began the university at MlT
last year after raising more than
$1.3 million through donations
from government, foundations
and corporate sponsors.
The 104 students were drawn
from 350 applicants. They are
considered leaders in their fields of
expertise, such areas as rocket
propulsion, political science and
space architecture.
The intent, explained Diman-
dis, himself pursuing a medical
degree at Harvard and a doctorate
in aerospace engineering at MlT,
is to ``create a cross-disciplinary
approach. The engineers and sci-
entists should see space travel
from a political and legal stand-
point and vice versa. Anyone with
a vision of space exploration
should not be ignorant in any of
these areas.''
The session was no picnic. Stu-
dents, most financed by scholar-
ships, attended 240 hours of
classes over the nine-week period.
Lectures were given by experts
from several of the most inifluen-
tial organizations in the world
space establishment.
``I'm here because I was im-
pressed with the gall of an upstart
group of people to do something
like this,'' said Daniel Norton, one
of ISU's 30 faculty members and a
specialist in space engineering at
the Houston Area Research Cen-
ter. ''I was called by Peter last Oc-
tober and didn't know him from
Adam, but he seemed to represent
a bunch of bright young people
with imaginative ideas, so I signed
on. Their vision sold me on this.''
Perino, 28, was chosen by her
fellow classmates to deliver one of
seven addresses during yester-
day's ceremony.
''The only sad thing about this
is this ceremony,' she said. ''It's
over. We enjoyed it so much. I
have never seen such a high con-
centration of the best information
on space in one place at one time. I
don't profit by this. Neither does
my country. The whole world prof-
its.''
Next year's session will be held
in West Germany or France. By
1992, said Dimandis, he hopes ISU
will stand as an independent, full-
time university.