SPACEHAB-Led Joint Venture Wins $5 Million Contract.WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 1999-- Commercial Research Facility to be First on International Space Station SPACEHAB, Inc. (Nasdaq:SPAB SPAB Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (UK) SPAB School Pupil Activity Bus SPAB Supply Priorities and Allocations Board SPAB Security Policy Advisory Board SPAB Society for the Preservation of Adolescent Behavior ) announced today that a $5 million contract has been signed with the first customer to use the Company's co-owned commercial research facility aboard the International Space Station (ISS ISS See Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). ). The Colorado School of Mines' Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space (CCACS CCACS Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space ) of Golden, Colorado, will use the SPACEHAB-funded furnace called Space-DRUMS(tm) to process exotic glasses and ceramic materials using a unique combustion technique in the microgravity environment aboard the ISS. A partnership between SPACEHAB and Guigne Technologies Limited of Newfoundland, Canada, Space-DRUMS(tm) (Dynamically Responding Ultrasonic Matrix System) uses acoustic levitation, or sound waves, to hold fluid or solid material samples in place in microgravity mi·cro·grav·i·ty n. 1. An environment in which there is very little net gravitational force, as of a free-falling object, an orbit, or interstellar space. 2. while they are being processed aboard the Shuttle or ISS. This "containerless processing," prevents the samples from touching the walls of their containers, thus eliminating physical defects and opportunities for contamination. Originally developed under the sponsorship of the Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA or, in French, l'Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the Canadian government space agency responsible for Canada's space program. It was established in March 1989 by the Canadian Space Agency Act and sanctioned in December 1990. (CSA (1) (Canadian Standards Association, Toronto, Ontario, www.csa.ca) A standards-defining organization founded in 1919. It is involved in many industries, including electronics, communications and information technology. ) and now funded by SPACEHAB, the patented facility could lead to the creation of unique glasses and ceramics for use as bone replacement, industrial filters, and fiber-optic cable for telecommunications. Space-DRUMS(tm) also will help fluid physics researchers to understand the fundamental nature of turbulence. Space-DRUMS(tm) is slated to be the first commercial research facility on the ISS when it is delivered in 2000. "With the Space-DRUMS(tm) facility already attracting customers, SPACEHAB is paving the way for commercial utilization of the space station for research and commerce," SPACEHAB President David A. Rossi said. SPACEHAB, with its Johnson Engineering and Astrotech subsidiaries, is the world's leading provider of commercial payload processing services for manned and unmanned payloads. SPACEHAB is the first company to commercially develop, own and operate habitable modules that provide laboratory facilities and logistics re-supply aboard NASA's Space Shuttles. The Company also supports NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. astronaut training at Johnson Space Center, Houston. |
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