›Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference 2012

A new generation of space vehicles capable of economically delivering payloads and researchers is coming on line in 2012 and 2013.

These vehicles will revolutionize space access by providing frequent, low-cost access to space, and the capability to carry research and education crew members―thereby simplifying and further reducing the cost of experimentation in space. They will also carry automated experiments for technology and TRL-raising demonstrations, for educational/public outreach, and for atmospheric science, solar physics, microgravity science, planetary science, space life science, space physics, and education and public outreach (EPO).

NSRC-2012 will provide a forum for researchers, educators, and other users to learn about the research and EPO capabilities of these new systems, their experiments, and EPO integration processes. NSRC-2012 will also provide the user community for these vehicles a key opportunity to make inputs on vehicle design and operational requirements.

The conference will bring together researchers from government, industry, and academia in the largest forum of it’s kind, providing key networking opportunities for the entire community. The objectives of the NSRC-2012, therefore, are:

- To educate a broad array of research communities to the opportunities that the new wave of reusable, commercial human suborbital vehicles offer for research and education missions (REM);

- To hear from this broad array of researchers and educators what their questions, feedback, and ideas are for REM applications and REM user requirements are;

- To further demonstrate strong interest by US domestic and international researchers and educators to NASA, industry, DoD, the National Institute of Health (NIH), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other potential funding entities for REM applications.