A Commercially Available Reduced Gravity Environment For
Scientific Experimentation
Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) announced the establishment
of the ZERO-G Weightless Lab Thursday. The specially designed
two-day program provides the only commercial access to Martian,
Lunar, zero and hyper gravity environments for scientific research.
The program is open to academic, corporate and government agency
applicants.
The ZERO-G Weightless Lab, which was specially designed to meet
researcher's needs, offers clients the availability to charter a
section of the plane rather than the entire plane, for the two-day
program. The LAB offers a total of 25 parabolas, adequate storage
space and a state-of-the-art containment unit for smaller research
projects.
"The establishment of the ZERO-G Weightless Lab demonstrates
ZERO-G and Space Adventures' continued commitment to open the space
frontier to all," said Eric Anderson, President and CEO of Space
Adventures/ZERO-G. "The ZERO-G Weightless Lab provides open access
for commercial and government entities to conduct research in a
reduced gravity environment that is not only affordable, but
available today. The microgravity laboratory is completely
operational; no test flights, development effort, or outside
investment is required. Space is open for business!"
"When I traveled to the International Space Station (ISS), my
most prized on-orbit activity was the protein crystallization
project. The results were just as we predicted and my team has
flown another specimen to the ISS since my flight," said Richard
Garriott, Space Adventures' sixth orbital spaceflight client and
the 1st second generation American astronaut. "The ZERO-G
Weightless Lab is a great first-step in space-based research and
it's available today."
All applicants must submit a Research Proposal Package. The
proposal will be reviewed by ZERO-G's Research Staff and its
airline partner, Amerijet International Cargo. Upon acceptance,
ZERO-G will work to obtain proper FAA approvals for the
experiments, including a Test Readiness Review. Past client
projects have included studies in biomedical and pharmaceutical
research, fluid and fundamental physics, materials science,
aerospace engineering, space exploration hardware and human space
habitation.
Two ZERO-G Weightless Lab flights have already been scheduled.
On July 22-23, the plane will fly out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. and on
September 17-18, out of Memphis, TN. Additional dates and locations
can be added if demand warrants.