Daytona Beach, Fla., October 30, 2007 — Researchers, teachers and students will have access to weightless and variable-gravity conditions under a new agreement between Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Zero Gravity Corp. (Zero-G). Embry-Riddle and Zero-G will work together to integrate weightless flights and space science workshops for K-12 teachers, develop experiment programs for high school and college students, and expand microgravity, lunar gravity, and Mars gravity research opportunities aboard Zero-G’s G-Force One aircraft.
The collaboration will include Embry-Riddle’s support for development of the Stephen Hawking Microgravity Education and Research Center. The Hawking Center is an initiative of Space Florida, Florida’s aerospace development agency, conceived after the renowned astrophysicist flew aboard G-Force One earlier this year. Embry-Riddle’s student researchers are frequent flyers on NASA’s microgravity educational flights, making the university well qualified to work with Zero-G and Space Florida to develop Hawking Center research projects.
“Zero-G has already demonstrated an outstanding commitment to providing professional development for science and mathematics teachers, and has a unique platform for supporting innovative R&D,” said Michael Hickey, director of Embry-Riddle’s TeachSpace educational program. “We look forward to leveraging Zero-G’s capabilities to pursue our common interests in space education, research, and training, especially as NASA moves to privatize its own microgravity aircraft program.”
Zero-G has pioneered the commercialization of weightless flights that once were provided solely by NASA for research and astronaut training. G-Force One, the company’s specially modified Boeing 727 aircraft, offers the world’s only FAA-approved weightless flight experience for the general public. The privately held company, based in Las Vegas, Nev., and in Florida, specializes in space entertainment and tourism, including from the Space Shuttle runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. For more information, visit www.gozerog.com.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.
Contact
Bob Ross, rossr@erau.edu, 386-226-6198 (Embry-Riddle);
or Natalie Mounier, nmounier@kirvindoak.com, 702-737-3100 (Zero-Gravity Corp.)
