First Time Agency Has Chosen A Commercial Company For Task

This week, NASA selected Zero Gravity Corporation to manage and operate an aircraft to perform parabolic flights for NASA-operated experiments and personnel... the first time the space agency has chosen a commercial operator for that task, and a key milestone for NASA's parabolic operations, which have been previously operated using government aircraft and personnel.

Zero-G's flights will primarily initiate from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH.

"We consider it a distinct honor to have the opportunity to participate in NASA's scientific, education and training activities. We are excited about the important initiatives that we'll be supporting and eagerly await our first flight with NASA aboard," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, CEO and co-founder of Zero-G. "NASA's Administrator Mike Griffin and Deputy Administrator Shana Dale have shown themselves to be true visionaries when it comes to encouraging meaningful partnerships with the private sector.

"As a commercial company we are pleased to support NASA's Vision for Space Exploration," added Diamandis, who also noted Zero-G is 100 percent privately funded.

During Zero-G flights, NASA will perform experiments and research in aeronautics, fluid physics, combustion, material sciences and life sciences. The reduced gravity environment will also allow NASA to further develop its Crew Exploration Vehicle, and train astronauts for future flights on the space shuttle and the International Space Station.

"Zero-G is very pleased to be able to work with NASA on the parabolic flight program. In developing our commercial Boeing 727 operation, we learned as much as we could from NASA's 40-plus years of history operating their KC-135 and C-9," said Dr. Byron K. Lichtenberg, co-founder and chief technical officer for Zero Gravity Corporation. "Today our primary business is providing weightless flight services to the commercial markets, general public and education markets.

"From my early days as a space shuttle astronaut, I believed there was a commercial side to weightless flights and that the combination of commercial and government flights would benefit both sectors," Lichtenberg continued. "It is our sincere hope that as the public gets to experience weightlessness, they will gain a better understanding of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration. Now the aircraft that the general public flies aboard will be the same aircraft used by NASA to train some of its astronauts."

The contract's one-year base period, valued at $4.7 million, began on January 1. Four one-year options could add just over $5 million per year to the fixed price, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract total. These options could extend the period of performance to a total of five years, for an estimated $25.4 million.

FMI: www.gozerog.com, www.nasa.gov