SAN ANTONIO — A planetary scientist from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) right here in San Antonio was chosen to among the first group to do science experiments aboard a commercial spacecraft.
The experiments will be funded by NASA, the space agency said.
Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist and associate vice president of SwRI’s Space Science and Engineering Division, will fly aboard the Virgin Galactic commercial spacecraft called “SpaceShipTwo”. The suborbital mission will launch from the Spaceport America site in New Mexico. The mission has not yet been scheduled.
“Our commercial suborbital space flight program dates back almost a decade,” said SwRI President and CEO Adam L. Hamilton, P.E. “To see the results of SwRI’s internal research efforts lead to historic SwRI-tended suborbital experiments is very exciting!”
Some of the research on the mission will include Stern operating a former space shuttle and NASA F-18 low light level camera to determine how well space astronomical observations can be conducted, the agency said.
It will also include biomedical research by reading Stern's vital signs throughout the flight.
“Going to work in space myself for the first time after having spent so many years sending machines there to do the research for me is going to be a major career highlight, and something I am honored to be selected for,” said Stern, who has previously been involved in 29 space mission science teams but has never flown in space. “But I hope this is just the first of a steady stream of flights by SwRI researchers doing work in space in the years and decades ahead.”
Southwest Research Institute is nonprofit established in San Antonio 1947 that works on research projects ranging in topics from biomedical, chemistry, and engineering to space research missions.
For more information on Dr. Stern, access his bio, e-mail him at astern@swri.edu or visit him on Twitter at @AlanStern.
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