NEXT GENERATION SPACEFLIGHT
IPA is on contract to support NASA in meeting the goal for sending U.S. and Partner Nation astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. Our involvement supports NASA’s focus on the Commercial Crew Program, Orion Deep Space Program, and the ongoing and groundbreaking work being accomplished on the International Space Station (ISS).
IPA provides crew training and development activities that are crucial to continued safety and success of the space station mission, NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its Commercial Crew Program. IPA holds positions as Recovery Manager and Flight Lead for the Orion Recovery Program as well as technical consultants on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner Recovery Program. IPA’s divers and engineers are responsible for fostering commercialization efforts supporting the NASA human spaceflight program. IPA is authorized to help enable utilization of NASA’s assets to enhance military and other agency’s training and operational readiness.
As the future of human spaceflight evolves into the commercial and private sectors, IPA’s will continue to grow its support for operations, training, and engineering by leveraging NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Commercialization program.
IPA’s footprint at NASA’s Johnson Space Center includes:
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) NBL Video Presentation
Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility (SVMF)
Next Generation Space Vehicle Recovery System Development
IPA delivers highly-skilled services that include enriched-oxygen breathing gas production (Nitrox), life-support systems for submersed space-suited subjects, spacewalk procedure development and verification, operation of human-rated robotic system, integrated audio and video systems, Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) training and evaluations, and computer network systems that are tied to International Space Station simulations to generate emergency scenarios.
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is a unique facility that is available at all times for critical training and mission support operations, and is kept in a ready state to support the dynamic nature of human spaceflight. The 6.2 million-gallon pool, an essential tool for spacewalk training, simulates the weightlessness experienced by astronauts in space.
