Many of the university's current connections to space, including research and community projects, will be highlighted during talks, presentations and events Oct. 10-19 during the World Space Congress 2002 in Houston.
In the 1960s, UH biochemist John (Juan) Oro conducted some of the earliest experiments investigating the origins of life on earth and the composition of the cosmos, establishing him as a world leader in these fields. Oro received some of the first lunar samples that were released by NASA for analysis, and during the 1970s he helped design experiments and build equipment used during the Viking mission to investigate the existence of life on Mars.
Today, the search for extraterrestrial life goes on at UH, such as geoscientist Henry Chafetz's studies of environments where microbial life, or evidence of past life, is most likely to be found on other worlds. UH researchers also are planning to go back to the moon and to Mars to help develop space outposts. Alex Freundlich, Charles Horton and Alex Ignatiev in the Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials are developing solar cells that can be made on the moon using lunar resources. The solar cells would collect sunlight and convert it into electricity to support a lunar base. Both UH projects are among several that will be discussed during the World Space Congress.
Additional UH space research is highlighted at http://www.uh.edu/wsc2002/ .
Designated a Space Grant Institution, between 5 percent and 15 percent of UH's annual external research funding in each of the past 10 years has come directly from NASA, including grants from NASA's Exobiology Program and from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. The Texas Learning and Computation Center, a high-tech research and educational facility at UH, was established in 1999 with nearly $4 million from NASA, as well as funding from the Texas Legislature.
Among UH's many contributions to the space program and space research:
One of the key players in UH's involvement with the space program is the Institute for Space Systems Operations (ISSO), which operates the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration (HPSE). The partnership was established in 1992 by the Legislature of the State of Texas as a line item in the state budget at $230,000.
The general mission of the ISSO/HPSE is to advance the development of the aerospace community in the Houston area and Texas, with particular emphasis on the academic, industrial and government programs associated with the NASA Johnson Space Center, the University of Houston and UH-Clear Lake. ISSO's state funding goes toward supporting space-related research projects conducted by faculty, students and personnel at those institutions.
In 1995 the state increased HPSE funding to $430,000 a year to enable a post-doctorate aerospace fellowship program, which pays for recent Ph.D. graduates to conduct research at NASA-JSC and at the two universities.
Under the leadership of director David Criswell, the ISSO has provided seed grants and fellowships for more than 170 space-related projects that subsequently stimulated new research funding from external sources totaling more than 3.3 times the amount of the ISSO funding during its first decade. In 2001 the leverage of state funds exceeded seven-to-one. Investigators receiving ISSO grants must submit proposals to outside sources for external funding.
Criswell also has provided funding to small projects that enable educational or outreach activities, such as an astrobiology multimedia project ( http://www.isso.uh.edu/publications/A9900/html/fox-2.htm ), spearheaded by George Fox, UH professor of biology and biochemistry and a principal investigator in NASA's Exobiology Program.
In May 2002 ISSO awarded $90,000 to eight UH and three UH-CL professors. Details on ISSO projects can be viewed on the Web at http://isso.uh.edu/publications/A2001 . Some ISSO-funded projects and their investigators include:
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About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas' premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 34,400 students.
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