Astronauts4Hire and NASTAR Center Announce Partnership

Online, January 29, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Astronauts4Hire and the National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR®) Center are proud to announce that they have signed a services agreement for NASTAR Center Space Training and to collaborate on developing new A4H-branded training programs for A4H's commercial astronaut candidates.

A4H and the NASTAR Center will work together to develop A4H-specific training courses for astronaut candidates interested in aiding researchers, payload developers, and spaceflight providers with mission planning and operations support during spaceflight missions.

"A4H is an ambitious organization that has demonstrated diverse interests in space applications," stated Brienna Henwood, Director of Space Training and Research at the NASTAR Center. "I look forward to their insight and am happy to support their training goals of conducting research operations in space,"

The agreement provides access to advanced commercial spaceflight training, including altitude and motion physiology curricula and hands-on simulated spaceflight launch to reentry flight exposures to A4H members at The NASTAR Center facility, which is located just outside Philadelphia. Space training will feature the NASTAR Center's PHOENIX centrifuge to deliver the authentic full-force spaceflight mission simulation needed to support a variety of profiles and task objectives encountered by flyers on suborbital and orbital spaceflight missions.

"I am very pleased with this agreement and look forward to working with the NASTAR Center to enhance and tailor their training specifically for professional astronaut-scientist crewmembers," remarked A4H President Brian Shiro. "With NASTAR as a valued partner, we are well-positioned to meet the needs of the emerging commercial spaceflight industry.

The NASTAR Center is the world's leading provider of training services for commercial suborbital space flights and first facility to receive safety approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct suborbital space training. To date, more than 250 spaceflight participants and scientists have prepared for space at the NASTAR Center in Southampton, PA.