by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin has said that Russia will extend cosmonaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from six to 12 months in order to gather data needed for missions to the moon and Mars.

“We are talking about stable operations that will be carried out as part of yearly expeditions. Now this will be placed on a systemic basis with the corresponding system of biomedical researches. Year-long expeditions are what we need,” Rogozin said.

Well, that sounds good. Far sighted, even visionary. That’s what makes it so odd; these are not words normally associated with the Roscosmos boss. Something else seems to be going on here.

PoSSUM graduates (Credit: A4H)

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (A4H PR) – Astronauts for Hire (A4H) would like to congratulate six of its members for completing the inaugural PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Qualification Program that was held from February 7-10, 2015 at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Project PoSSUM announced today that all graduation requirements for these candidates have been met.

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TITUSVILLE, Fla. (A4H PR) – The inaugural NewSpace Researchers Workshop (NSRW) will take place on May 4, 2015 at the South Shore Harbour Resort and Conference Center in Houston, Texas. Held in conjunction with the Sea, Earth, and Space (SES) Summit, this event will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to develop successful research campaigns for parabolic, suborbital, or orbital flights. More information is available at https://nsrw2015.org.

“We developed this workshop to help researchers take practical steps to advance their projects from concept to flight,” said A4H President and CEO Brian Shiro. “Networking among participants at the workshop will foster cross-disciplinary collaborations in science and engineering that will move the commercial space industry forward.”

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Tampa, Florida, March 20, 2013 (A4H PR) – Astronauts4Hire (A4H) is pleased to announce that it is seeking highly qualified candidates to expand its cadre of prospective commercial astronauts. Individuals interested in becoming Flight Members can submit applications via the Astronauts4Hire website at https://forms.astronauts4hire.org/FMapplication by April 20, 2013. Selectees will be announced during the first week of June 2013 at the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Broomfield, Colorado.

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Palo Alto, California (A4H PR) – After more than a year of development, Astronauts for Hire (A4H) is proud to announce its proposed training programs for Research Specialist Astronauts and Operations Specialist Astronauts. These programs, which were developed by the nonprofit in close consultation with former NASA astronauts and astronaut instructors, are the most comprehensive commercial scientist-astronaut training guidelines available in the world.

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Tampa, Florida – Astronauts4Hire and partner company Vital Space will test a new biometric monitoring system designed for use by spaceflight participants on a May 2012 reduced gravity parabolic flight campaign in Houston, Texas.

They will undergo up to four flights with 40 parabolas each granting 25 seconds of near zero-gravity. The project is facilitated by NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, to which Vital Space and Astronauts4Hire submitted a successful joint proposal chosen by NASA in October 2011 titled, “A demonstrated application of a cost effective and novel platform for non-invasive acquisition of physiologic variables from spaceflight participant candidates.”

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A4H PR – Tampa, Florida – Astronauts4Hire is pleased to announce that it has become a sponsor of the 2012 Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resort in Palo Alto, California from February 27-29, 2012. The NSRC will bring together researchers from government, industry, and academia in the largest forum of its kind focused on the research and education capabilities of new suborbital vehicles.

“Astronauts4Hire grew out of NSRC-2010 and was a NSRC-2011 sponsor,” said Brian Shiro, President and CEO of Astronauts4Hire, “so it is fitting that we will once again support the suborbital research community by sponsoring the NSRC-2012. This will be a prime opportunity for A4H to demonstrate how far it’s come in its second year and where it’s going in the future.”

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A4H PR — Tampa, Florida – Astronauts4Hire is pleased to welcome Fuzebox, Inc. to its growing list of supporters helping to further its mission to develop the next generation of astronauts. FuzeBox has granted the non-profit organization a professional-level license for its Fuze Meeting video conferencing and collaboration product.

“Fuze Meeting provides a facet of communication essential for Astronauts4Hire,” remarked Astronauts4Hire CTO Amnon Govrin. “It enables productive high-quality voice and video meetings among members within the organization.”

FuzeBox is a personal telepresence and visual collaboration SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company whose vision is to empower global professionals with visual collaboration, real-time communication, community, and presence on any platform. Its flagship product is Fuze Meeting, which enables cloud-based multi-party web conferencing and an easy user interface. With its members spread out across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, Astronauts4Hire relies upon the Fuze Meeting virtual collaboration tool to connect its members as it builds the suborbital frontier.

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A4H PR – Tampa, Florida –Astronauts4Hire is proud to announce it is now officially a public charity with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. Contributions donated to Astronauts4Hire are fully tax-deductible retroactive to the founding of the organization on April 12, 2010. Astronauts4Hire is also now eligible to apply for government and foundation grants, which will further broaden its access to resources and strengthen its ability to serve the commercial spaceflight industry.

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Tampa, Florida – Astronauts4Hire is pleased to announce its sponsorship by TargetProcess, Inc., an agile project management software provider. As part of the sponsorship, Astronauts4Hire is receiving complimentary licenses for TargetProcess’s online project management system. Astronauts4Hire uses TargetProcess to track tasks and concentrate on applying members’ volunteered time in the most productive way.

“We are an organization spread across the United States, Canada and Europe, so communication and structured collaboration are essential to our daily business,” said Astronauts4Hire Chief Technology Officer Amnon Govrin. “The customizability of TargetProcess’s On-Demand service have allowed us to adapt it to our unique needs.”

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