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LabVIEW developer Brian Turner was on the Conan O'Brien TV show on May 2 to talk about NASA's 2008 Space Elevator Competition. Brian's team, the Kansas City Space Pirates, will be using LabVIEW and NI CompactRIO to compete for a $2M dollar grand prize.

Here is Brian's response on the appearance:

Space Pirate news 5-9-08
The Conan Show was a big hit. I managed not to choke and remained rather articulate through the 5 min interview. We did not however get to cover the competition, the team or the sponsors. They were on the list but I had no idea how fast time would fly. I felt that I was on for only 30 seconds. We clearly managed to inform thousands of viewers about the space elevator and raise awareness. I saw a big jump in web site visitors but only received 1 small donation. The show will be re-run at least once so even more may come of it. I will keep you posted.

You can go watch the video on the NBC site if you missed it. We mechanically steered an beam! It was just a laser pointer and only in 1 dimension. Still it is a small but significant step in our mission. We are planning to go to the ISDC (International Space Development Conference) in Washington DC at the end of this month. I plan on meeting with potential supporters there and hopefully securing the
funds needed for the rest of this year.

Here is a photo from NBC.com. Check out the Powered by LabVIEW hard hat!! LabVIEW really is everywhere.

http://decibel.ni.com/content/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1020-1122/conan3.jpg



May 6, 2008 12:13 PM Click to view johngr's profile johngr

While LabVIEW has many appearances on TV, especially on numerous Discovery Channel and Science Channel shows, I think this represents LabVIEW's first appearance on late night network show! Perhaps we (NI) need to start a program to recognize/reward customers that get LabVIEW featured/mentioned on network shows.

John

May 6, 2008 12:20 PM Click to view Deirdre's profile Deirdre in response to: johngr

That's a great idea! LabVIEW Community -- let us know when your application reaches star status. While I can't promise a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I would definitely like to reward and recognize your success.