VASIMR news (5/9/2008)

[docm]

<strong><font face="Helvetica-Bold" size="3"><font face="Helvetica-Bold" size="3"><p align="left">&nbsp;http://www.adastrarocket.com/Release090508.pdf</p><p align="left">Quote:</p><p align="left">Ad Astra Rocket Company and Costa Rican consortium CORAAL S.A. sign collaborative agreement for the design of a research platform for the International Space Station.</p></font></font></strong><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><p align="left">[Liberia, Costa Rica. For immediate release]</p><p align="left">- Ad Astra Rocket Company and Costa Rican Aerospace Alliance (CORAAL) have signed a Collaborative Agreement for the design of a power and propulsion test platform for the International Space Station (ISS). The Platform would house the VF-200-1 VASIMR&trade; engine, a new plasma based space propulsion technology currently under development by Ad Astra.</p><p align="left">The agreement was signed today at Ad Astra&rsquo;s Costa Rica subsidiary near the City of Liberia, Guanacaste by CEOs Angela Garc&iacute;a Le&oacute;n (for CORAAL) and Franklin Chang D&iacute;az (for Ad Astra). It is being hailed as historic for Costa Rica, marking a formal entry by that country into the field of space technology.</p><p align="left">Principal elements of the agreement include the participation of CORAAL as a member of an Ad Astra-led design team, which includes US collaborators Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) and NASA and it envisions the utilization of CORAAL&rsquo;s extensive expertise in design and high precision machining and manufacturing for the design of the platform structure and associated hardware.</p><p align="left">The power and propulsion research platform is a structural and utility support module that would house Ad Astra&rsquo;s VF-200-1 VASIMR&trade; engine, which the company plans to deploy in space in early 2012 and which would become the first space <font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3">demonstration of this new plasma propulsion system. In addition, the platform would also provide a research venue for testing a number of other space technologies and basic research of interest to the commercial, academic and public sectors.</font></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3">></font></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3"><font face="Times-Roman" size="3">></font></font></p></font></font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Boris_Badenov]

<font size="2">Go Ad Astra. I sure hope they meet their goals. VASMIR certainly has potential. It appears to be an excellent candidate for space station orbit readjustment as well as ship propulsion.</font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[keermalec]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp;http://www.adastrarocket.com/Release090508.pdfQuote:Ad Astra Rocket Company and Costa Rican consortium CORAAL S.A. sign collaborative agreement for the design of a research platform for the International Space Station.[Liberia, Costa Rica. For immediate release]- Ad Astra Rocket Company and Costa Rican Aerospace Alliance (CORAAL) have signed a Collaborative Agreement for the design of a power and propulsion test platform for the International Space Station (ISS). The Platform would house the VF-200-1 VASIMR&trade; engine, a new plasma based space propulsion technology currently under development by Ad Astra.The agreement was signed today at Ad Astra&rsquo;s Costa Rica subsidiary near the City of Liberia, Guanacaste by CEOs Angela Garc&iacute;a Le&oacute;n (for CORAAL) and Franklin Chang D&iacute;az (for Ad Astra). It is being hailed as historic for Costa Rica, marking a formal entry by that country into the field of space technology.Principal elements of the agreement include the participation of CORAAL as a member of an Ad Astra-led design team, which includes US collaborators Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) and NASA and it envisions the utilization of CORAAL&rsquo;s extensive expertise in design and high precision machining and manufacturing for the design of the platform structure and associated hardware.The power and propulsion research platform is a structural and utility support module that would house Ad Astra&rsquo;s VF-200-1 VASIMR&trade; engine, which the company plans to deploy in space in early 2012 and which would become the first space demonstration of this new plasma propulsion system. In addition, the platform would also provide a research venue for testing a number of other space technologies and basic research of interest to the commercial, academic and public sectors.>> <br />Posted by docm</DIV><br /><br />Way to go Frank <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>“An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” John F. Kennedy</em></p> </div>