The PHEnOM Project: A Commercial Human Spaceflight Research Program
Panama City Beach, Florida (PRWEB) April 08, 2016 -- The SeaSpace Exploration & Research Society Inc. announces the launch of its space exploration citizen scientist initiative, the PHEnOM Project. PHEnOM, an acronym for Physiological, Health, and Environmental Observations in Microgravity, is one of the world’s first commercial human spaceflight research programs, training and utilizing citizen scientist-astronauts and mission support specialists to carry out its mission objectives.
The mission of the PHEnOM Project is to serve as a leading catalyst for opening the commercial spaceflight industry by engaging in innovative, ground-breaking research in the areas of health and human performance, pharmacology, materials science, engineering, countermeasures, and atmospheric and physical sciences, through the use of citizen scientists. The proposed research will be conducted in collaboration with academic, government, and commercial and private industry partners and collaborators.
Using a “cradle-to-grave” approach for all studies under the PHEnOM Project umbrella, research and technology maturation objectives are pursued from the ground, up. This approach utilizes laboratory-based ground evaluations, relevant and analog environments, and ultimately spaceflight, to produce a rich and diverse research portfolio for each study. Through its cross-disciplinary teams, the Project is able to package more scientific and technological value into each of its research projects, providing Project collaborators, partners, and team members with a more economical, efficient approach to microgravity research. In short, this is a REAL human spaceflight research program, NOT a tourist experience.
According to Jamie Guined, the PHEnOM Project’s Principal Investigator, “It is through programs such as the PHEnOM Project that everyday people, have the opportunity to contribute in a significant and meaningful way to the collective body of knowledge and understanding of the human exploration of space.” Citizen Scientist-Astronaut (CSA) candidates participate in a very comprehensive training program that combines didactic course work with mission- and spaceflight-specific skills training. The PHEnOM Project’s CSA program is delivered over a period of two years using a blended instructional format that combines online/web-based didactic course work with four location-based trainings. Candidates will be involved in every facet of the project’s research programs, from grant sourcing and proposal writing to data collection and final manuscript writing and publication. While much of the research conducted will be ground-based (laboratory) or utilizing a spaceflight analog environment (parabolic flight), members of the CSA corps will also be assigned to program-funded commercial suborbital spaceflight missions upon successful completion of the Citizen Scientist-Astronaut training program.
Candidates selected for the inaugural class of the PHEnOM Project’s Citizen Scientist-Astronaut program are a diverse group of professionals from around the world who underwent a comprehensive application and selection process administered by the SeaSpace Exploration & Research Society and its Project partners. The Candidates will conduct and support a variety of multi- and cross-disciplinary research, including research and technology initiatives that overlap with the SeaSpace Society’s human ocean exploration mission, Project Poseidon, a 100-day undersea research expedition that will take place at the Aquarius undersea laboratory in 2018. The inaugural Citizen Scientist-Astronaut candidates are: David Attig, Richard Blakeman, Angela Bostwick, Deniz Burnham, Eric DeBlackmere, Kyle Foster, Debra Hodges, Dr. Jose Hurtado, Dr. Shawna Pandya, Linda Roehrborn, Anima Patil-Sabale, Eric Shear, Daniel Surber, and Victoria Varone. Those interested in submitting their application for the Citizen Scientist-Astronaut or Mission Support Specialist programs may do so via the Project’s website at http://www.seaspacesociety.org.
Jamie Guined, SeaSpace Exploration & Research Society, http://www.seaspacesociety.org, +1 229-947-3038, [email protected]
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