ETC and The NASTARSM Center Attend AeroSpace Medical Association (AsMA) Conference
This year marks the 80th Annual AsMA conference held in the beautiful Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.
A very knowledgeable, tightly-knit group of medical professionals and researchers attended the 4-day conference consisting of exhibits and workshops. Having sponsored the AsMA conference for nearly 30 years, Environmental Tectonics Corporation (ETC) and The NASTARSM Center were both in attendance and held a booth at the show. Even in the challenging economy, industry professionals came from across the globe to be present for this conference, all bonded by a common interest - the research, health, and safety of those who venture into challenging environments.
Brienna Henwood, Director of Commercial Business at The NASTARSM Center kicked off the conference Sunday afternoon on May 3rd by presenting The NASTAR Center’s unique research and flight training capabilities at the Human-Tended Sub-Orbital Science Workshop. Organized by the Personal Spaceflight Federation (PSF), the workshop encapsulated discussions pertaining to both equipment and sub-orbital vehicle development capabilities as well as possible research studies that might soon be feasible given sub-orbital access to the space environment.
The first workshop panel consisted of insights from equipment and sub-orbital vehicle developers. Lead by NASA Astronaut Yavonne Cagle, the speakers included Russ Blink co-founder of Armadillo Aerospace, Dr. Alan Stern research rep for Blue Origin, David Masten of Masten Space Systems, Randall Clague of XCOR, and Brienna Henwood from The NASTARSM Center. The panelists then gave way to brainstorming sessions in which audience members discussed possible research studies that could suddenly become feasible given the realism for human space travel in the near future. The results of the brainstorming sessions mainly resulted around the elongated (4-5 minutes) access of weightlessness and preserving human health in space.
Among those that attended the workshop, Richard Garriott spoke briefly about his recent voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) and back aboard the Russian Soyuz Vehicle which took place last October 2008. With a natural enthusiasm for all things space, Richard was supportive to the research brainstorming ideas presented by the groups. Having performed many scientific activities for organizations while aboard the ISS, he hopes to continue to contribute to space science, and hopefully again soon on other missions.
