The A4H News - Issue 1

THE Year 1 - Issue 1

NEWS

WWW.ASTRONAUTS4HIRE.ORG

1st Quarter - 2012

A4H MEMBERS COMPLETE SUBORBITAL SCIENTIST TRAINING

Flight and Associate Members took part in High-G, High Altitude, Helo Dunker and Sea Survival training courses this Summer. Several Flight Members have now completed their Suborbital Scientist Training. Top row, from left to right: Dr. Jose Miguel Hurtado, Jr, Brian Shiro, Alli Taylor, Dr. Jason Reimuller. Bottom row, from left to right: Kristine Ferrone, Associate Member Jules Shiohira Ung and Christopher Altman. ...more on page 3...

IN THIS ISSUE

• Editor’s Corner ... 2 • The A4H Beat ... 2 • A4H in the News ... 4 • Meet an A4H: Brian Shiro ... 5 • What’s hot in Commercial Space ... 7 • The Industry Leader: Dr. Scott Parazynski ... 8 Page 1

THE EDITOR’S CORNER When the 15th century gave way to the 16th, a new wave of human exploration of uncharted territories began. Once again, over five hundred years later, we find ourselves under such circumstances. As the private sector now starts to take a more important role into human transportation to Earth’s orbit, a grand gate of opportunities opens for us all. Space travel could finally become an ordinary affair, ultimately allowing for human kind to irreversibly leave its cradle. Astronauts4Hire (A4H) intends to be a key part of this new wave of exploration. A4H is working to create the first pool of private astronauts to conduct research in microgravity. With this, it will be demonstrated that private citizens can pursue careers in space and in that way, we will also inspire the next generation.

Luis Zea

THE A4H BEAT A4H completed its first year. Inspired by the 2010 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, A4H was started in order to fill a need for highly qualified scientists to carry out research experiments on commercial spacecraft. The organization now counts with 19 astronaut candidates and 57 Associate Members.

A4H granted 501(C)(3) Nonprofit Status. A4H is now officially a public charity with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. This will further broaden A4H’s access to resources and strengthen its ability to serve the commercial spaceflight industry.

A4H partners with Ashton Gabriel Spatial Orientation Lab. The two organizations recently signed an agreement focused on addressing the goals, challenges, and issues of astronaut training for private spaceflight.

A4H member Dr. Erik Seedhouse completed unusual attitude training. Adding to his recent high altitude and G-tolerance training, A4H member Dr. Erik Seedhouse completed unusual attitude training in a BAE Hawk 115 at 15th Wing of the Canadian Air Force. Additionally, after winning his age group of the 70.3 half Ironman triathlon in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Seedhouse has qualified to participate on the 2012 World Championships in Nevada.

A4H members support STS-134 and STS-135. A4H Flight Member Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto helped prepare, integrate and monitor student experiments in Endeavour and Atlantis’ last spaceflights. Similarly, A4H Flight Member Luis Zea supported STS-135 covering the whole life of a space-based research project: concept design, R&D, development, testing, integration, operation all the way through post-landing processing. Luis is now working on the YouTube SpaceLab. A4H member Melania Guerra speaks at TEDxJoven. Flight Member Melania Guerra spoke at the 2011 TEDxJoven in Costa Rica. Melania focused on her passion for exploration of extreme environments from the seafloor to space.

A4H partners with Survival Systems USA. Survival Systems USA and A4H will work together on emergency spacecraft escape and surface water survival training. Training includes how to successfully perform an underwater egress with and without an emergency breathing device, and to care for themselves in a sea survival situation.

A4H supports the One Flag in Space initiative. This initiative, led by Blue Marble Space, is focused on creating a sense of international unity through space exploration.

A4H first Lunar Level Sponsor. TargetProcess, Inc. is providing A4H with complimentary licenses for TargetProcess’ online project management system, worth a total of $15,000 USD. Left: Dr. Erik Seedhouse (right) completed his High-G Jet Training. Bottom: Veronica-Ann Zabala Aliberto and Luis Zea processing payloads for STS-135.

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ON THE COVER

A4H FLIGHT MEMBERS COMPLETE SUBORBITAL SCIENTIST TRAINING Eight Astronauts4Hire members have successfully completed the Suborbital Scientist Training Program at the National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center in Southampton, Pennsylvania. Flight Members Christopher Altman, Kristine Ferrone, Jose Hurtado, Jason Reimuller, Brian Shiro, and Alli Taylor, along with Associate Member Jules Shiohira Ung, comprised the inaugural A4H class to undergo suborbital scientist training and certification. Flight Member Mindy Howard also completed the course previously. Additionally, some of these members also completed dunker, emergency egress and sea survival training at the Survival Systems USA facilities. To complement it, the group also conducted motion sickness evaluations at the Ashton Gabriel Spatial Orientation Laboratory (AGSOL).

Right, top: Helicopter Rescue Exercise. Right, bottom: Life Raft Practice.

Below: A4H Members with their wings in front of the NASTAR centrifuge.

Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory

Brandeis University

The Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory (AGSOL) was founded at Brandeis University in 1982. It is dedicated to the study of human adaptation in nonterrestrial force environments.

Since its founding, AGSOL investigators have studied human spatial orientation and movement control in parabolic and space flight experiments, as well as in virtual environments. It houses comprehensive artificial gravity facilities for long-term habitation studies.

The AGSOL is excited to be cooperating with A4H in developing training paradigms for future astronauts. agsol@brandeis.edu

www.graybiel.brandeis.edu Page 3

A4H IN THE NEWS Astronauts4Hire’s first job completed Astronauts4Hire received renewed global media attention following our February 2011 microgravity flight to test the effect of alcohol absorption with Vostok Space Beer. A May 17th Reuters article titled “Australian beer hopes to boldly go into space” made waves in the news cycle. This article has spurred a windfall of new stories appearing in CBS News, Fox News, PRI’s The World, Sydney Morning Herald, Toronto Sun, The Independent, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Guardian, New Scientist, Forbes, InnovationNewsDaily, Space.com, MSNBC, Discovery News, NTDTV, and CNTV. Astronauts4Hire in Discover Magazine The June 2011 issue of Discover Magazine includes a 2-page spread called “After the Shuttle: Astronauts for Hire.” Featuring interviews with A4H President Brian Shiro and former NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox (now of SpaceX), the article focuses on how the astronaut profession is changing in the post-Shuttle era. It highlights one of the most important reasons we started Astronauts4Hire in the first place: to recruit and train the next generation of astronauts for the new age of commercial spaceflight.

Astronauts4Hire in journal Nature Volume 476, Number 7361 of the Journal Nature features interviews with A4H’s Jason Reimuller and Brian Shiro on how Astronauts4Hire is creating a new model of astronaut training in the era of private spaceflight. The pair discuss ways the A4H organization is preparing them to realize their own space research goals and the prospects for future flight opportunities.

Blue Marble Space (BMS) is a space science and education non-profit working alongside A4H to achieve the common goal of a sustained exploration of space that strongly includes commercial enterprises as important partners to nation-driven endeavors. BMS began on Earth Day 2009 with the One Flag in Space initiative. This initiative promotes the first picture taken by a human being of the entire Earth as a true symbol of international unity in space exploration, and counts A4H as a major supporter. Since then, the organization has grown with new initiatives, including the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, and Safety from Above, an initiative grown from collaboration with Teachers Without Borders. BMS and A4H will work together to further promote and enable international unity through space exploration.

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MEET AN A4H: Getting to know Brian Shiro Tell us a little bit about your life experience. How did you end up where you are right now?

Space has captivated my imagination since I was a boy. I grew up studying astronomy, consuming science fiction, and building model rockets with my dad. My sights always set on one day being an astronaut, I attended Space Camp when I was 12 and a 2-week Mars camp when I was 13. I left home when I was 16 to finish high school at an elite math- and science-focused boarding school, where my biophysics research earned garnered international honors. I also ran track in high school and by the time I was 19 had completed the coveted Boston Marathon. In college I majored in integrated science, geology, and physics. That interdisciplinary background has helped me gain experience in a wide variety of fields like seismology, oceanography, atmospheric physics, geochemistry, glaciology, planetary science, satellite radar mapping, high performance computing, and more. As an undergraduate, I interned at the NASA Johnson Space Center, and later as a graduate student I participated in summer schools at the Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

After finishing a master’s degree in earth and planetary sciences in 2002, I started investigating how large impacts can seismically induce volcanism, perhaps explaining the Tharsis Rise on Mars. Then, I was offered a job at NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in order to help people in the aftermath of the great 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Dr. Diamandis encouraged me to attend the International Space University (ISU), which I did the following summer in Vancouver, Canada. ISU opened my eyes to a universe of possibilities in the space sector, and along with the subsequent master’s in Space Studies I earned from the University of North Dakota, gave me a diversified skill set in areas of space science, engineering, history, project management, business, law, and policy that later came in handy when we were establishing A4H. In 2007 I applied to the NASA Astronaut Corps. By 2009 I had made it to the “Highly Qualified” level. After that, I was involved with the Mars Society’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) in the Canadian High Arctic and the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). Both of these experiences taught me valuable leadership lessons and gave insights into managing teams under analogous space mission operational conditions. This gave me confidence that later came in handy with the bold A4H initiative.

You’ve been to some unique places on the globe. What lessons have you learned from your expeditions and travels?

I have been extremely fortunate to visit some far-off unique places. Living and working with indigenous people on small South Pacific islands, I learned the value of respecting and valuing other cultures. Trekking on foot for two months across an icefield on the Alaska/Canada border, I learned that no matter how lonely you may feel, you must rely upon your teammates to survive. You must also trust your equipment and supply chain, as I learned while spending a month traveling by plane and helicopter over the barren Antarctic plateau. Narrowly escaping a volcanic eruption in the Mariana Islands, I learned that no matter how prepared you are for contingencies, sometimes nature has its own plans for you. Crossing the central Pacific on a research ship, I felt like I was on an interplanetary space mission, and I think ocean exploration can teach us a lot about working in space.

Preparing himself to enter the Altitude Chamber at NASTAR.

Top: Brian proudly puts up the A4H flag inside the centrifuge chamber where he went up to 6.1g.

Prior to beginning the suborbital flight profiles in the High-G centrifuge.

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Let’s talk about A4H. How was it born?

A4H grew out of the 2010 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC), where Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto, Amnon Govrin, Ryan Kobrick, and I started discussing the need for a new type of astronaut to carry out suborbital research experiments on behalf of Principal Investigators. We all shared a common desire to train at the NASTAR Center but needed a way to fund it, so we opted to pool our resources and find a way to get trained as commercial payload specialists. That was the birth of the A4H idea as both a training cooperative and an independent flight crew service. Joe Palaia applied his entrepreneurial experience to help transform our idea into a company. The five of us set up the organization and launched it publicly on April 12, 2010.

What do you do within the organization?

Officially, my job is to provide overall executive oversight and strategic development to lead the organization, but I do much more. I have my fingers in almost every aspect of A4H activities from organizing meetings and interacting with the press, to updating the website and helping to develop the training plans.

When do you foresee the first jobs to start coming and what type of jobs do you think those will be?

A4H has already completed its first job providing a microgravity testing service on a parabolic flight, and others parabolic flight jobs are already in the works. With initial commercial spaceflights starting as soon as next year, I would expect that by 2014, A4Hers could have completed our first job as Research Specialists on a suborbital spaceflight. The way things look now, many of the near-term research opportunities seem to be in characterizing and monitoring human biomedical response to the microgravity environment.

Where do you see A4H 10 years from now?

A decade from now, A4H will be well established in the commercial spaceflight industry as a key facilitator of private astronaut crew training and as a provider of crew services. I would like to see A4H become to the space industry what NAUI or PADI is for the SCUBA industry. A4H will be a respected certifying body preparing people for spaceflight. By 2021, our members will have completed several suborbital research flights and potentially a few orbital missions too. A4H could be a prime contractor providing crew services to private space stations as well.

Let’s go back to you. If you could choose your ideal job as an A4H, what would it be and why?

With scientists at NASA Ames, I am working to develop suborbital missions to measure electromagnetic activity in the mesosphere associated with tectonic activity. Ultimately, we hope to learn about potential earthquake and volcanic eruption precursors in the hope of providing warnings in the future.

This is a great example how I hope to combine my geophysical expertise and spaceflight training on a project of high societal relevance.

Top Right: Rotated in 3 axis in the Multi-Axis Tilt Device or “HULK” at AGSOL. Bottom Right: At Survival Systems USA’s Shallow Water Egress Trainer (SWET). Here, he learned how to confront the fear of drowning in order to remain calm and safely egress a submerged aircraft. Left: Brian conducting research during his one-month Mars mission simulation at the Mars Society’s FMARS, in the Canadian Arctic.

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WHAT’S HOT IN COMMERCIAL SPACE Virgin Galactic’s research flight types 2011 is ending with a flurry of activity in commercial space, most positive but some disappointing. Among the positive developments, Virgin Galactic came out with the announcement that it will be offering two main types of research flights on board their SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle: one will allow principal investigators to fly with their experiments, thus becoming astronauts themselves, and the other will be payload-only flights (up to 600kg). Researchers and research teams will undoubtedly clamor for the chance to conduct real science and experience a thrilling ride as a bonus. Obviously not all principal investigators with experiments requiring human interaction will choose to fly, thus leaving a need for trained astronauts to fly in their stead.

XCOR to launch from Curaçao XCOR corporation with their Lynx vehicle also continued to make headlines as the year ended. In September they reportedly came to an agreement to provide both tourism and scientific flights from the island of Curaçao just north of Venezuela. The company claims that this “multimillion dollar” deal will keep it funded through development phase of the Lynx with paid flights to start in 2015.

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) In NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, both Orbital and SpaceX steadily made progress to end the year. Orbital is hoping to recover in the first quarter of 2012 from a major setback it suffered earlier in the year on the engine of its new Antares (formerly the Taurus II) vehicle. SpaceX has received the go-ahead from NASA to combine its next two demonstration missions and a tentative launch date has been set for February 7th out of Cape Canaveral. All commercial space eyes will be nervously watching that launch as the country’s space policy hangs (according to a great many space industry watchers) in the balance.

COTS 2: Dragon operating in the vicinity of the ISS. Image credit: NASA/SpaceX

Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract (CCIDC) News from the Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract (CCIDC) activity, which is the follow on to the Commercial Crew Space Transportation Development part 2 (CCDev2) award, has not been as positive. A compromise bill between the House and Senate gutted the $850 million the Obama administration asked for in order to speed up commercial crew efforts. At least four companies (Boeing, SpaceX, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Blue Origin) are left with a pie of only $406 million spread out amongst possibly two of them. Such an amount makes it very difficult to close the “gap” in America’s capability to put humans in space in the near term.

Stratolaunch Systems announced Finally, big news from Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen and Burt Rutan. Really big. Allen and Rutan announced that they have teamed up for an effort called Stratolaunch Systems which entails using a giant six-engine jet as a rocket launcher for satellites, cargo and tourists, and likely crew at some point. Even former NASA administrator Michael Griffin is on the board of the company. The wingspan of the carrier plane in the concept unveiled is the length of a football field and it has six engines that look to be the equivalent of those on a Boeing 747.

With all of the above in the works, it appears that the first quarter of 2012 could be an exciting time for space enthusiasts.

ADVERTISEMENT FROM 4 PINES BREWERY Astronauts4Hire’s first job was a microgravity experiment for Australian “4 Pines Brewery” Page 7

THE INDUSTRY LEADER: Dr. Scott Parazynski If you could go back in time and tailor your own Astronaut training program, what would you add, remove, or change in order to be better prepared for working in space?

Throughout the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) programs, learning tools have taken advantage of advances in technology and evolved, reaching a high degree of maturity. Thanks to these tools I felt very comfortable and very well prepared to do my job. However, you could now bypass several ‘reconstruction tasks’ that we did on our minds by creating very capable virtual reality simulations which would accelerate the learning process. Preparation for spaceflight usually includes other types of exercises such as survival training. Although it is not directly relevant to suborbital flight as much as it was for the shuttle program, survival training is a great team building and leadership exercise. Centrifuge training, in the other hand, is more important for suborbital flight than what it was for us in the shuttle era, where we had a peak ascent g loading of about 3g through the chest which is relatively easy to take. However, on some of these suborbital trajectories gs are going to be higher and sustained longer. Hence, I think that acceleration training is indeed important.

As a former NASA astronaut and a first-person witness of the rise of commercial space, what would you give as recommendation to commercial astronauts-in-training such as the members of Astronauts4Hire and others with similar interests?

I would give words of encouragement - this is a very exciting new frontier. It’s an incredibly exciting industry which I think will grow with time. Until today, about 500 people have been able to see their planet from space. I would love to see that number in the tens of thousands in ten years or so. I think A4H has a rather well-rounded group with scientific and engineering backgrounds. Having mechanical aptitude - skills to fix things in the fly – and also experience working in other challenging environments, plus having computer and photographic skills, will allow you to not only understand the inner workings of your payloads and spacecraft, but also to fix anything if necessary.

Where do you see the commercial space sector by 2020?

I think that, initially, suborbital flight is going to be mainly of touristic interest. Conversely, orbital activities will remain somewhat in the domain of large entities, either industry or governments. Bob Bigelow has relationships with foreign nations to fly their astronauts to a commercial space station to conduct science. He has a business model which he believes supports a very robust industry.

In 20 or 30 years, efficiencies of economies of scale could make it possible to create trans-global-type commercial space travel, so everyone in the world would eventually become an astronaut.

Left: Dr. Scott Parazynski in an EMU with the patches of his 5 spaceflights. Right: Dr. Parazynski conducting an Extravehicular Activity (EVA) to repair a damaged solar panel at the International Space Station (ISS) Page 8

Where do you see our National Space Program by that date?

Well, what I hope is that we’ll have a very mature exploration initiative. We’ll be testing and doing initial flights at least in earth orbit - perhaps trans-lunar with deep-space-capable vehicles. My hope and dream is that America takes on a really bold initiative to go to Mars. It is challenging but it is also attainable. I think it is human destiny that we go there. I’m hoping that either this administration or the next will give us that mandate, with a budget and milestones to match.

You have conducted EVAs with Russian and Canadian partners. You know about international cooperation. In that regard, what do you think should be the next step, after the ISS, if a mission to the Moon, an Asteroid or Mars still proves unrealizable?

I’m not sure what the next bold initiative would be if it is not one of those things. I don’t think another space station, or satellite servicing or other activities in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) would be conducive for cooperative projects. We need to get beyond LEO. I’m certainly an advocate of using the Moon as a test bed, as a stepping stone to get to Mars.

In STS-86, you were the Navigator during the MIR rendezvous. You have a first-hand understanding on the level of sensitivity of this operation. What is your opinion on having commercial space vehicles dock with the ISS? I had an active role in rendezvous on all of my 5 flights, serving as navigator for satellite captures and space station dockings.

It is a very complex ballet with fast moving spacecraft. With the sensors systems we’ve developed during the shuttle era you could actually automate a lot of those processes and have the ability to bail out, in other words to waive off of rendezvous and docking at any point. So, I think most of that process could be automated quite well, or have an automated system with a human in the loop to monitor and/or override, with minimal training.

If you knew that all the key people were reading this interview, from President Obama to the members of Congress, etc., what would you like to tell them?

We need to have a consistent message in vision and stable funding to see that vision work out. This country needs to set boot prints on Mars. Unfortunately, I don’t see a clear path for that happening right now. Hopefully in a few years an American-led international cooperative will decide to do that. Actually, I think we could get there in the next 10 to 15 years if we put our minds to it.

I would like to finish with a word of optimism.

I think the future of American spaceflight remains bright. I know that times are changing and it’s making it really hard for some people. I certainly know lots of people whose lives have been affected by the retirement of the shuttle and the uncertainty of what comes next. Nonetheless, I’m sure there will be American leadership to get humans off of the planet and beyond LEO. I think American leadership will continue on the exploration of space, both, robotic and human. We’re just on a transition period. I think commercial spaceflight industry will deliver – there might be some initial setbacks, and even some catastrophic failures, and not all of these companies will make it – but I hope and believe that some of them will cruise people to and from the ISS. They will send many more people to suborbital space. Eventually, we’ll see American boot prints on Mars, with NASA out in front. It’s my dream to see that happen within my lifetime.

Above: Dr. Parazynski during a spacewalk on STS-120. Below: Scott holds a moon rock at the summit of Mount Everest.

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Newsletter@astronauts4hire.org Luis Zea Editor-in-Chief luis.zea@astronauts4hire.org Meet an A4H The Industry Leader Abhishek Tripathi, Ph.D. abhishek.tripathi@astronauts4hire.org Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hot in Commercial Space Jon Boley Jon.boley@astronauts4hire.org A4H Beat A4H In The News

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