Intuitive Machines to Provide Science Sample Return Vehicle for International Space Station National Laboratory

HOUSTON, Oct. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston based technology solutions company, Intuitive Machines, LLC in cooperation with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been selected by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) to develop a Terrestrial Return Vehicle (TRV) that will enable on demand, rapid return of experiments from the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. Through this commercial service, Intuitive Machines will enable researchers to regularly and quickly return small samples and components from the ISS to Earth. The timely delivery of critical or perishable samples is essential in enabling new and exciting research aboard the ISS National Laboratory. Currently, retrieval and return of experiment results from the ISS are restricted to only a couple of times per year and requires a lengthy upfront planning process. In contrast, the performance of Intuitive Machines' TRV allows for frequent delivery opportunities with same day delivery of samples from ISS to the researcher's laboratory. Intuitive Machines will provide this service to a wide range of customers including scientific, academic, commercial, and government. This new capability will enable increased utilization of the ISS as a national laboratory and improve the commercialization opportunities of experiments for terrestrial benefit. The first flight of the TRV from the ISS is planned for 2016.

"The International Space Station, with its unique microgravity laboratories and crew, enables research over a wide range of disciplines from physics through biology. This small payload return capability will provide controlled conditions and flexible choices for timely sample analysis. The scientific team will be able to much more efficiently adjust experimental parameters in response to results, exploit unique results, and correct problems encountered," said Dr. David Wolf, a research scientist and former astronaut.

As part of this new venture Intuitive Machines is responsible for the overall design and certification of the return vehicle, as well as payload return services for its customers. CASIS will provide integration onto a commercial launch vehicle for access to the ISS, as well as on-orbit flight operations services. The TRV contains all of the necessary subsystems for protecting the payload during the return trip and delivering it accurately to a landing location such as a dry lakebed, where it can be readily retrieved. Once recovered, the payload will be removed from the TRV and delivered to the customer.

Find out more about the Terrestrial Return Vehicle at http://intuitivemachines.com/news/trv/

About CASIS
The mission of CASIS is to maximize use of the ISS National Laboratory, an unparalleled platform for innovation. The organization has been awarded by NASA the responsibility of inciting the imagination of entrepreneurs and scientists alike, accelerating and facilitating space-based research as well as creating public awareness of National Lab research and making space science more accessible to the world. Find out more about CASIS at http://www.iss-casis.org

About Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines is a company that develops engineering solutions at the unimagined intersections between energy, medicine and aerospace industries. The company brings to bear a very unique array of engineering domain expertise. By leveraging state-of-the-art engineering tools and practices, integrated with current research and advanced technologies, we arrive at original solutions to intractable problems.

We improve on the equivalent of machine nervous systems, brain control functions, and sensory perception; from sensing and analyzing the world around them to autonomously controlling their movements and interactions. We connect machines to humans through smart data display and control interfaces making both operator action and machine performance more intuitive. As an engineering design and development think tank, we provide products and solutions that employ a "flight proven" lean engineering development model. Our rapid iterative design-build-test capability significantly lowers development costs, and shortens the development cycle, while increasing the probability of success of any project.

Located in the Clear Lake area of Houston, Intuitive Machines was founded in 2013 by Steve Altemus, Dr. Tim Crain, and Kam Ghaffarian with a core group of engineers from the NASA Johnson Space Center.

For more information:
Intuitive Machines, LLC
http://intuitivemachines.com
3700 Bay Area Blvd., Suite 100
Houston, TX 77058
Steve Altemus, President
281.520.3703
[email protected]

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SOURCE Intuitive Machines LLC

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