Oscar-winning director shows the right stuff for upcoming celebration and space odyssey.
By Kim Devore/Staff Writer
With his sight set on the stars, could the King of the World become Master of the Universe? Perhaps not, but Malibu’s “Titanic” director James Cameron has a new project in the works-hoping to hitch a Soyuz rocket ride to the International Space Station and document his findings on film.
And he just might do it. Why? Well, let’s just say Jimmy has friends in high places-very high places.
Next week, Cameron joins astronaut Buzz Aldrin, fellow space buff Tom Hanks, actors Gary Lockwood and Morgan Freeman, author Alvin Toffler and a host of futurists, scientists and physicists to host the Arthur C. Clarke 2001 Gala.
The event, set to take place on Nov. 15, will raise money for The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, the SETI Institute’s Haughton Mars Project, the Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies and the “Permission to Dream” program.
The fundraiser has also attracted locals like Candace Bowen who is serving as the event’s volunteer and sponsorship coordinator.
“What really got my heart was the Permission to Dream project,” Bowen explains. “They go into areas like East L.A. and places around the world with telescopes and computers. They teach kids how to read the stars and give them a connection to the universe.”
The idea was born on a beach in Sri Lanka. That is where Space Frontier Foundation Executive Director Rick Tumlinson watched some native children marvel at the wonders of the galaxy after giving them some rudimentary telescopes.
“They were so precious,” recalls Tumlinson. “I thought, let’s expand on that. Let’s hook them up with computers. Let’s let kids relate not just to space but to each other because there are no borders in space.”
The gala, which falls on the space odyssey’s milestone year, almost didn’t happen because of America’s recent terrorist attacks.
Said Bowen, “We had this big meeting after Sept. 11, asking, should we move forward, should we cancel, should we reschedule? But we decided that if the date is 2001, it’s not going to work in 2002.”
In addition to space-related programs, 10 percent of the proceeds will go toward the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund.
And there was another reason to move forward. Despite monumental tragedy here on earth, organizers wanted to remind Americans that there are reasons to hope and exciting new worlds to explore.
“This is about giving yourself permission to dream,” Tumlinson explains. “The people who blew up the World Trade Towers want us to cast our eyes downward. But now, more than ever, we need to cast our eyes upward–to transcend everything and take it to a higher level.”
Cameron, meantime, is pushing ahead with his space case and hopes to make a series of documentaries as well as a 3D IMAX movie.
If NASA and the Russian space agency sort out their differences and give him the green light, Cameron could be in orbit by the end of 2002.