UA space exploration will continue after shuttle program ends – KGUN
Reporter: Jessica Chapin
TUCSON (KGUN9- TV) – A NASA reaches the final hours before the Endeavor shuttle launch, University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary lab director Michael Drake is preparing to wake up early and watch from his home in Tucson.
With about 30 years of experience at the lab, Drake has ties to some of NASA’s most important missions.
“The University of Arizona’s been part of the nation’s space program since really Sputnik,” said Drake. Over the years, UA played a key role in projects like mapping the moon’s surface before the lunar landing, choosing a landing site for Apollo 12 and running cameras on a Voyager mission. Most recently, the University was at the heart of the Phoenix Mars Lander mission, sending pictures of the planet’s surface back to Earth.
“We were the first university to lead a mission on the surface of another planet,” said Drake, “and the next big thing we hope is a mission to return samples from an asteroid.”
He made his case in Washington last week for the billion dollar mission. It would send a lander to the Osirus Rex asteroid in 2016 and bring back samples by 2023.
“We will spend about $180 million here in Tucson if we win that project,” he said, “That is a massive economic impact.”
Even though one shuttle mission remains after this launch, Drake says that won’t slow down UA. He predicts space exploration will move toward private industry, and the university will continue to encourage partnerships.
“I think the steps forward present enormous opportunities for the university, he said, “We are very entrepreneurial at the University of Arizona, particularly at the lunar and planetary lab and we will seize those opportunities as they come.”
The University of Arizona expects to hear whether or not it will get funding and approval for the Osirus mission in about three weeks.