More Good News
Greetings friends,
Here is the latest news from SpaceDev!
Cheers,
Jim Benson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Jim Benson Shirley Thompson, President
CEO Mike Trueblood, Account Executive
SpaceDev, Inc. Carl Thompson Associates, Inc.
(619) 684-3570 (800) 665-4200
SpaceDev Reports Three New Teams File Notices of Intent for Proposals on
Near Earth Asteroid Prospector
Notices filed under NASA's MIDEX program, adding to those filed under
Discovery
San Diego, CA -- SpaceDev (OTC BB: SPDV), the world's first commercial
space exploration company, reported today that three principal
investigators filed Notices of Intent (NOI) with NASA for funding under
the Agency's Medium-class Explorers (MIDEX) Announcement of Opportunity.
These notices make them eligible to submit formal proposals for funding
the purchase of insured rides for their instruments on SpaceDev's Near
Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP) mission.
"We are thrilled to have these three highly respected teams demonstrate
their interest in submitting proposals for funding under the MIDEX
program," said Jim Benson, SpaceDev CEO.
The science teams include the University of Iowa, the University of
California at Berkeley and Southwest Research Institute.
The NOI is the first formal step in a process that could result in
government funding for specific experiments or instruments to be carried
on NEAP, currently scheduled for launch in October 2000.
"Once again, we have been impressed by the degree of support our mission
is finding within our customer base, the scientific community. Such
response reinforces our belief that there is serious demand for
inexpensive scientific data collected from space. We fully intend to
capitalize on, and even fuel, this demand by producing high quality
science at the lowest current cost."
SpaceDev's commercial price list places the cost of rides for science
experiments or technology demonstrations at $10 or $12 million each,
depending on the type of ride purchased. Mr. Benson noted that the
filing of an NOI does not automatically result in a proposal to NASA,
and does not guarantee funding for any of the investigations proposed.
"As we have noted in the past, SpaceDev is responding directly and
substantively to the White House National Space Policy and to Congress
and NASA's call for 'cheaper, better, faster,' space access via the
private sector," said Benson.
The following is the list of principal investigators who filed Notices
of Intent, and their respective mission objectives:
Dr. Louis A. Frank, University of Iowa. Mission: Investigate and
monitor the ambient plasma environment of the asteroid and monitor solar
wind plasmas in an effort to identify evidence of asteroid-plasma
interactions.
Dr. Kevin C. Hurley, University of California at Berkeley. Mission:
Detect and localize gamma-ray bursts and rapidly communicate that
information to ground-based observers.
Dr. S. Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute. Mission: Conduct
observations of the interaction between solar wind and the moon's
atmosphere, or use an ultra violet photometer to search for surface ice
on the moon.
SpaceDev, the world's first commercial space exploration and development
company, intends to launch the first privately financed spacecraft to
land on another planetary body. SpaceDev is selling rides for scientific
instruments to governments and companies to transport their instruments
and experiments through deep space to a near earth asteroid. SpaceDev
intends to sell the data acquired by its instruments as commercial
products. Colorado-based SpaceDev has offices in San Diego, CA and
Washington, D.C.
Except for historical financial information contained herein, the
matters set forth in this release are forward-looking statements that are
dependent on certain risks and uncertainties including but not limited
to, such factors as market demand, pricing, and changes in worldwide
economic conditions.
Note: News releases and other information on SpaceDev can be accessed
at spacedev.com or ctaonline.com on the
Internet.
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SpaceDev - NEAP (Near Earth Asteroid Prospector)
-o- Commercial Space Exploration & Development of Space Resources -o-
spacedev.com -o- Info@SpaceDev.Com |
