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(Houston,
TX – March 08, 2003) – Today the Amateur Spaceflight Association
learned that their application to become a 501c(3) non-profit company was
approved. “This is a great
day for ASA, it is a major link our chain of growth” said Robert
Morehead, President of ASA.
ASA
is a company dedicated to the advancement of space research and exploration
– on the amateur level. They
are currently constructing a launch vehicle capable of carrying up to 200
lbs to the edge of space, granting a few minutes of zero-gravity to whatever
is inside the rocket. ASA is an
educational/research based non-profit, and they intend to launch payloads
of University-created microgravity experiments into space. ASA will essentially become a missing
link in the education sector—a launch service that receives funding
as a non-profit, allowing lower launch costs which will enable more
universities to have their own space research programs.
Currently,
ASA is preparing for a rocket test flight in April. This flight, dubbed the TLV-7, is a test
various computer systems on-board the rocket. The computers will beam live data and
video to the ASA mission control, and this video and data will be available
to the public via monitors and projectors.
The Avionics Design Team Lead, Nic Radford stated “It is
amazing to watch the flight from the rocket’s point of view. We’ll get to see what the tops of
the clouds look like”.
The
next step for ASA is fundraising to continue production and test-fire their
main rocket motor – which is fueled by Liquid Oxygen & Kerosene
and generates 8,300 pounds of thrust.
ASA hopes to launch their first rocket into space next year.
Additional
information about ASA is available at www.asa-houston.org
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