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Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space Finds A New Home
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October 4, 1999 Huntsville, AL
A new 2,000 square foot research facility will aid some of the hottest
research around: combustion research. This facility is the new home of
the Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space (CCACS),
which focuses on improving combustion processes -- the basis for nearly
every manufacturing process in the world, or off it.
The new facility, in conjunction with approximately 8,000 square feet of
additional space in academic departments around the Colorado School of
Mines campus, will provide ground-based laboratories for research, as well
space for final assembly of hardware for flights on the KC-135, the
Shuttle, and the International Space Station. It also will provide offices
and workspace for the CCACS faculty, staff and students.
One important feature of the new facility is its "Mission Control Center,"
which will make it possible for investigators to monitor and control
investigations on the International Space Station. By using "telescience"
capabilities, investigators can more closely control their experiments and
take advantage of opportunities as they arise. In addition, this
capability will cut down on use of one of the most limited resources on any
mission, crew time.
"This facility will offer our Industry Partners the best possible
ground-based research, and greatly enhances combined research operations,"
states Dr. Frank Schowengerdt, Director of the Commercial Space Center.
"This will allow us unparalled opportunities and help advance important
research into fire safety, the production of potential bone replacement
materials, and development of new processes to make a new generation of
machine tools."
When the move into the new facility is completed, researchers from CCACS
and its Industry Partners can move ahead with ground-based work and
preparations for even more advanced work in space.
For more information on the Space Product Development Program, contact
spd@msfc.nasa.gov. For more information on CCACS or its new facility, please contact
Beth McKnight, McKnight Communications, Rockybeth@aol.com, or 303-440-4720
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