Conference outlines suborbital research opportunities

Researchers and educators whose research projects would benefit from a new generation of suborbital space vehicles can learn about this new opportunity at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference.

The conference, planned for Feb. 18-20, 2010 at the Millennium Harvest House in Boulder, Colo., features speakers from NASA, the FAA and commercial spacecraft manufacturers on topics ranging from experiments in life sciences and astronomy to capabilities of the next generation of suborbital vehicles. Researchers and educators attending the conference will be able to present their ideas for the use of these new vehicles.

"A new generation of space vehicles capable of economically delivering payloads and researchers is coming online beginning in 2010," said Dr. S. Alan Stern, associate vice president of SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division and one of the organizers of the conference. "They will revolutionize space access by providing frequent, low-cost access to space and the capability to carry research and education crew members," Stern said. "They will also carry experiments for technology demonstrations, for scientist-in-the-loop research and for education and public outreach demonstrations."

The conference brings together researchers from government, industry and academia. Topics of interest include atmospheric science, astrophysics, solar physics, microgravity science, planetary science, space life science, space physics, aerodynamics, technology development, and education and public outreach (EPO).

The conference also provides input on vehicle design requirements for science and education. The three-day conference features public evening lectures Feb. 18 by Col. Rick Searfoss, chief test pilot for XCOR Aerospace and a former NASA space shuttle commander; and space journalist and author Andrew Chaikin.

Source: Southwest Research Institute