Barbara Selby

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

October 21, 1991
(Phone: 703/557-5609)

Rick Mould
University of Alabama-Huntsville
(Phone: 205/895-6414)

Mike Bryant
EER Systems, Vienna, Va.
(Phone: 703/761-3704)

Debbie Bingham
White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
(Phone: 505/678-1134)

RELEASE: 91-173

LAUNCH DATE SET FOR CONSORT 4 MICROGRAVITY EXPERIMENTS

The launch of Consort 4, a commercial suborbital rocket

carrying nine microgravity experiments, has been set for Nov.
13 at 10:45 a.m. EST by the University of Alabama in
Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in Space
(UAH CMDS).

Using its Starfire rocket, EER Systems Corp., Space

Services Div., Vienna, Va., will launch the Consort 4 payload
from the Naval Ordnance Missile Test Station at White Sands
Missile Range, N.M. The two-stage solid fuel Starfire will
carry the payload to an altitude of 200 miles and provide the
experiments with 7 to 8 minutes of microgravity.

The rocket and launch services are funded by a grant from

NASA's Office of Commercial Programs, Washington, D.C. The
UAH CMDS, which manages the Consort program, is one of 17 NASA
Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS).

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Experiments aboard Consort 4 will focus on the effects of

microgravity on various processes, materials and biomedical
samples. Two other CCDSs -- Battelle Advanced Materials
Center, Columbus, Ohio, and the Center for Cell Research
(CCR), Pennsylvania State University -- will conduct
experiments aboard Consort 4. The UAH CMDS and Battelle
experiments will study the effects of low gravity environment
on different materials, while Penn State CCR will examine
biological samples.

In addition to the CCDS payloads, Thiokol Corp., Logan,

Utah, will conduct a materials science experiment using
polyurethane foam; Instrumentation Technology Associates,
Inc., Exton, Pa., will study the effects of microgravity on a
variety of materials and biological samples in its Materials
Dispersion Apparatus Minilab; and Teledyne-Brown Engineering,
Huntsville, Ala., will fly a battery experiment.

Consort 4 is the final launch in this series of Consort

flights. The UAH CMDS currently is evaluating bids for a
follow-on Consort program.

-end-

EDITORS NOTE: Requests for accreditation to cover the

launch should be submitted by Nov. 7 to:

Debbie Bingham, PAO

Building 122
White Sands Missile Range, N.M. 88002-5057
Telephone: 505/678-1134

Radio and television reporters planning live coverage

directly from the range must submit their transmission
frequencies to Debbie Bingham by Nov. 1 to obtain clearance
for their use.