Florida Experiments to Fly Alongside National and International Projects
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACEPORT – Researchers and educators from Florida and as far away as Italy will participate in the first two research-focused ZERO-G aircraft missions from the Space Shuttle runway on August 6. The Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI) has chartered the flights under a partnership with ZERO-G Corp. to support research operations aboard their G-Force One aircraft. The missions will include researchers from universities, industry, NASA, and a team from Italy. Their experiments will focus on technologies for astronaut crew health, aerogel production, spacecraft cooling, and other projects. Twelve science and math teachers are also scheduled to fly with educational experiments designed for classroom instruction.
“In addition to flying the experiments, one of our objectives is to demonstrate our capability to process the research projects at the spaceport before and after their flights,” said FSRI Executive Director Sam Durrance, a former astronaut and veteran of two Space Shuttle science missions. “This capability is an important addition to the tourism, education, and film/television projects we have already supported at the spaceport.”
While NASA provides use of the Space Shuttle runway, the missions will also use state-provided resources like a Reusable Launch Vehicle Hangar, Space Life Sciences Lab, and the Center for Space Education to support the preparation of experiments and pre-flight training.
FSRI was established by Florida’s Governor and Legislature in 1999 to promote collaboration among the state’s academic institutions, industry, and federal agencies to support statewide aerospace-related technology development, research, education and training, research. FSRI will be dissolved on August 31 and its programs will be transferred to Space Florida, a new agency that will be responsible for statewide space industry development.
Contact: FSRI – Edward Ellegood, 321-452-2653, ext. 204
