 |
 advertisement
|
 |  | Spacehab Looks East for Space Investments
By Anatoly Zak
Staff Writer
posted: 04:40 pm ET
14 January 2000
|
spacehab_looks_east_000114
In an ongoing effort to commercialize space, Spacehab signed an agreement with the Singapore government Wednesday to conduct research on board the space shuttle.
The agreement between Spacehab and Singapore's Institute of Molecular Agrobiology (IMA) also involves two U.S.-based organizations.
Spacehab and the IMA will conduct protein growth experiments on the shuttle mission STS 107, currently scheduled for launch in January 2001.
In recent years the IMA cooperated with the St. Louis-based Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, in the ground-based research in the field of the protein crystal growth, Bernard Harris, Chief Scientist and Vice President at Spacehab told space.com.
"Now we give IMA and Danforth center an opportunity to conduct their work in microgravity," Harris said.
Along with protein crystal growth experiments, Spacehab also announced Wednesday the creation of a commercial education initiative called STARS, which would allow students around the world to design and to conduct experiments in the space shuttlešs mid-deck.
A promising field
NASA-sponsored protein crystal growth experiments in space have been conducted on board various space shuttle missions in the past.
The research proved that microgravity conditions allowed for the growth of larger, better shaped crystals, Doris Hamill, the Manager of Commercial Research Facilities at Spacehab said.
However for an unknown reason, around 30 to 40 percent of crystals have not shown enough improvement to validate their growth in weightlessness, Hamill said.
Larger protein crystals with a more refined shape than those grown on Earth would allow for better understanding of their nature and, as a result, pave the way for the development of advanced drugs that could take advantage of the crystals' shape. The human body carries tens of thousands of proteins, which makes the research in the field almost limitless.
"This is the most promising field for commercial space operations," Hamill said.
In the hope of attracting potential investors into the emerging commercial space research, Spacehab will provide IMA with "free samples" of the crystals grown on board the shuttle during the STS 107 mission.
"Singapore is an affluent nation with the advanced standing in the field, which makes the country a perfect potential investor in the commercial space activities," Hamill said.
Hamill agreed to rate several activities, which her company believes to carry the highest commercial potential for the piloted space program:
- testing of prospective satellite equipment, first of all communication hardware, on board piloted space platforms
- genetic engineering of plants, where weightless conditions present the unique environment to modify their genes
- experiments with suspended droplets of liquid metal, which could revolutionize the metal casting processes
- tissue growth research, difficult on Earth due to gravity which tears apart large tissue samples during ground-based experiments
The difficult road to the commercialization of space
Spacehab, a Washington, D.C.-based company, has taken several aggressive steps toward the commercialization of space, seeking to reduce its dependence on NASA, who, so far, has been the companyšs only major customer.
Currently, Spacehab builds pressurized modules for NASA, providing experiment and cargo room on board the shuttle.
In the recent past, Spacehab announced its intentions of financing the construction of a commercially operated module to be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). Hamill confirmed a direct relationship between its plans to use the module, called Enterprise, and the agreement with Singapore.
Spacehab has also subcontracted the construction of the module to RKK Energia, which is based in Korolev, Russia. RKK Energia is also a major participant in the ISS program.
|
|
|
