CAPE CANAVERAL SPACEPORT — The unique commercially available capabilities of ZERO-G Corp.’s G-Force One aircraft can now be bundled with laboratory resources at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport to support researchers from academia, industry and government. Under an agreement signed this week by ZERO-G and the Florida Space Research Institute, FSRI will serve as a clearinghouse and technical support provider for research flights aboard G-Force One.
“Using Kennedy Space Center as a flight location, ZERO-G brings a whole new dimension to the types of experiments that can be launched from Florida,” said FSRI Executive Director Sam Durrance, a former astronaut who flew on two Space Shuttle missions. “FSRI looks forward to providing scheduling, technical coordination, payload integration services, and laboratory resources to ZERO-G’s research customers nationwide.”
FSRI has already flown one experiment aboard G-Force One and is working with other organizations seeking access to future flights dedicated solely to research. FSRI will work with ZERO-G to schedule such flights beginning in 2006. Under the Florida/NASA Matching Grant Program, FSRI and the NASA-sponsored Florida Space Grant Consortium are also offering grant support for ZERO-G experiments developed in Florida. ZERO-G is the first and only FAA-approved commercial provider of reduced- and zero-gravity flights for research, education, tourism, and television/film production. Research customers can use the capabilities of G-Force One (a modified Boeing 727 aircraft) to achieve zero-gravity conditions and to simulate Lunar and Mars gravity conditions. For more information about ZERO-G visit www.GoZeroG.com.
FSRI was established by Florida’s Governor and Legislature to promote collaboration among academic institutions, industry, and federal agencies to support aerospace-related research, technology, and workforce development. FSRI co-manages the state?s Space Life Sciences Lab with NASA at Kennedy Space Center.
