COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. (March 3, 2003)—The
Space Foundation announced today the selection of the
largest group of inductees in the 15-year history of the
Space Technology Hall of Fame. This year’s Hall of Fame
space technologies run the gamut—from a medical implant
that helps thousands of Americans hear better to a
humanitarian device for disarming mine fields.

The six technologies being inducted this year are Cochlear
Implant, Digital Latching Valve, Humanitarian Demining
Device, Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit Technology
(MMIC), Virtual Window, and VisiScreen (Ocular Screening
System). Each brings to Earth a different life-enhancing
benefit from space technology.

The addition of these six technologies brings the number of
inducted technologies to 44. The Space Foundation will
honor the technologies and innovators during the Space
Technology Hall of Fame 15th Anniversary Awards Dinner
on April 10, attended by nearly 1,100 senior space leaders
and guests.

The awards dinner, co-sponsored by Northrop Grumman
Space Technology, is the closing ceremony for the 19th
National Space Symposium at The Broadmoor Hotel in
Colorado Springs, scheduled April 7-10. Dr. Ronald Sugar,
Northrop Grumman President and Chief Executive Officer,
will be the evening’s corporate host with special guest
presenters the Honorable Sean O’Keefe, NASA
Administrator; and Vice Adm. Richard Truly, USN (Ret),
director, National Renewable Energy Lab and former NASA
Astronaut and Administrator.

The Space Foundation, in cooperation with NASA,
established the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1988 to
honor the innovators who have transformed space
technology into commercial products, to increase public
awareness of the benefits of space spin-off technology, and
to encourage further innovation. The 2003 Space
Technology Hall of Fame Inductees:

Cochlear Implant: Adam Kissiah, Jr., a NASA engineer,
developed the technology for these digital implantable
hearing aids using the skills and knowledge he acquired
from work on the Space Shuttle program, particularly
electronic sensing systems, telemetry, and sounds and
vibrations sensors. The Cochlear Implant Association
estimates over 66,000 patients have received an implant in
this $1.65 billion industry.

Digital Latching Valve: While an engineer at NASA, Eddie
Sturman developed a very efficient valve for controlling
thrusters in spacecrafts. Today his company, Sturman
Industries, uses that technology to make commercial diesel
engines operate more efficiently, reducing fuel
consumption and pollution.

Humanitarian Demining Device: ATK Thiokol Propulsion
uses excess solid rocket propellant, which powers the
Space Shuttle in its first two minutes of flight, to meet a
humanitarian need—the disarming of landmines. ATK
Thiokol’s low cost, flare-like device renders landmines
inoperable and safe.

Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit Technology
(MMIC): Northrop Grumman developed the advanced
telecommunications MMIC technology for NASA and the
Department of Defense. Commercial applications of the
MMIC technology are now used in cellular phone power
amplifiers, and recent developments enable chip operators
that are four to ten times faster and require less power.

Virtual Window: Responding to NASA’s need to understand
data such as fluid flow around air and space craft surfaces,
Dimension Technologies, Inc. created Virtual Window—the
first Liquid Crystal Display that provides true 3-D images
without the need for special glasses. The display can
instantly switch from 2-D to 3-D and is used commercially
for computer games, protein analysis, surgical imaging,
and numerous other applications.

VisiScreen (Ocular Screening System): Using photo-
refractive optics technology and experience developed in
the Landsat and Skylab Space Telescope programs,
Marshall Space Flight Center innovators developed a
patented method and apparatus for detecting human eye
defects. Vision Research Corporation uses the technology
in a quick, painless ocular screening system called
VisiScreen, placing systems in pediatric offices and health
clinics in more than half the United States.

Widely regarded as the premier conference for space
professionals anywhere in the world, the National Space
Symposium is the only space-related conference to
integrate fully all sectors of space—commercial, civil and
national security—while attracting the most important and
influential speakers and the national leadership of the
space industry.

The 19th National Space Symposium’s opening ceremony is
co-sponsored by Northrop Grumman Corporation; the
exhibit center is sponsored by The Boeing Company; the
media center and Space Career Fair for College Students
Luncheon are both sponsored by Lockheed Martin
Corporation; the Corporate Partnership Dinner is co-
sponsored by Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Corp.; and
the cyberspace center is sponsored by Oracle Corporation.
Additional sponsors include Analytical Graphics, Inc., BAE
Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation, Eastman Kodak
Company, General Dynamics, Harris Corporation, Holland
and Hart, Infinite Links, ITT Industries, ManTech, MicroSat
Systems, Inc., Penwal Industries, Space
News/SPACE.com, SpaceVest, Stellar Solutions and
Veridian.

The Space Foundation, headquartered in Colorado
Springs, is a national non-profit organization whose mission
is to vigorously advance and support civil, commercial and
national security space endeavors and educational
excellence. For a list of individual inductees or for more
information about the Space Foundation and the Space
Technology Hall of Fame, visit
http://www.spacefoundation.org/.

Note to editors: Reporters requiring additional information
and contacts for selected technologies can contact
Stephanie Schierholz (stephanie@spacefounation.org).