Project Voyager and the Planetary Society Form Strategic Alliance
The 21st century integrated media network, code-named Project
Voyager (http://www.projectvoyager.com), announced today the formation
of a strategic alliance with The Planetary Society
(http://planetary.org). Within the terms of the agreement, Project
Voyager and The Planetary Society will collaborate on science
education and media projects focused on the exploration of the solar
system and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) over
the next two years, including University of California, Berkeley’s
ground-breaking SETI@home project.
“As we enter a new millennium, humanity has just begun the epic
quest to explore our solar system and search for life elsewhere in the
Universe. Our team is privileged to collaborate with the Planetary
Society in this quest. Together we will advance shared ideas and
ideals of science through research, education, and entertainment,
fulfilling the high standards we have established within our plan,”
said Joe Firmage, chairman and CEO of Project Voyager.
“Project Voyager is conceived to engage the widest possible
audience in the adventure of scientific discovery,” said Ann Druyan,
CEO of Cosmos Studios, the television and motion picture division of
Project Voyager. “SETI@home is an ingenious technical way of
transforming each and every one of us into an active researcher
investigating the most enthralling scientific question of all. It
embodies our dream of democratizing the scientific experience; of
opening it up to the many.”
“The Planetary Society’s mission is to inspire the people of Earth
to explore other worlds and seek other life through research,
education and public participation. This alliance gives us a new
opportunity to carry out this mission on the Internet and in other
media; it is very important and very exciting for us,” said Dr. Bruce
Murray, president, The Planetary Society.
A primary component of the alliance will result in investment of
resources into the next phase of the SETI@home project at the
University of California at Berkeley.
“We are thrilled to be part of this alliance with Project Voyager
and The Planetary Society,” said Dr. David P. Anderson, director of
the SETI@home project. “The three organizations have tremendous
synergy because we share the same basic philosophy: to involve the
world in science and discovery.”
The Planetary Society announced their new commitment to SETI@home
in a simultaneous release today, available on their website at
http://planetary.org/. Additional details concerning the alliance will
be announced in coming months.
About Project Voyager
Project Voyager is the code name of an integrated media network
that will help transform entertainment and learning drawing upon our
knowledge of science. The company is being organized by Joe Firmage of
Intend Change and Ann Druyan of Carl Sagan Productions and has
accepted seed capital from SOFTBANK Venture Capital and Crosspoint
Ventures. The company will announce its name in late summer of 2000,
and expects to launch globally in late 2000. View us on the web at
http://www.projectvoyager.com/.
About The Planetary Society
Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman founded the Society
in 1980 to advance the exploration of the solar system and to continue
the search for extraterrestrial life. With 100,000 members in more
than 140 countries, the Society is the largest space interest group in
the world. The Planetary Society was the founding sponsor of
SETI@home, which was developed at the University of California,
Berkeley. It has funded and conducted more than one dozen SETI
projects since 1980.
About SETI@home
SETI@home enables over 2 million people around the world to
process signals from the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
(SETI). It uses a computer program to analyze scientific data from the
radio search for possible signals from another civilization, while
acting as a screen-saver on personal computers. SETI@home harnesses
the spare computing power of Internet-connected personal computers
around the world. To date, SETI@home is the largest distributed
computing experiment ever undertaken, and participants have
collectively logged 340 millennia worth of computing time.
Contact: Project Voyager, James Espinas, 650/289-6657, jespinas@intendchange.com
