Discussions have begun to potentially start a Space Flight Participant Training Program, according to Dr. Stephen McKeever, Oklahoma's Secretary of Science and Technology at an Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) meeting Wednesday.
McKeever stated that he and OSIDA members recently met with the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) to discuss the logistics of what this program would look like. This would be the first of its kind, he said, so it would have to be done carefully and the proper business case would have to be put together.
McKeever said that many questions have come from the discussion with CAMI, including what kind of training would be necessary for civilians interested in this type of program.
Many of the training facilities are already available through CAMI, which is based in Oklahoma City. One of the training facilities that would not be available through CAMI is a centrifuge, a machine that allows trainees to experience G-Force. The machine, said McKeever, would cost somewhere around $10 million and would require the program to obtain outside investments.
No other state has this type of program available, he said, though Virgin Galactic, a British based space tourism company, is talking about creating a training program for its passengers. McKeever stated that Oklahoma would be the perfect place for the inception of the program.
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