From: baalke@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov   
      
   Dolores Beasley   
   Headquarters, Washington                November 19, 2003   
   (Phone: 202/358-1753)   
      
   Tracy Young   
   Kennedy Space Center, Fla.   
   (Phone: 321/867-2468)   
      
   RELEASE: 03-373   
      
   NASA'S GATEWAY TO SPACE FOR LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH DEDICATED   
   TODAY   
      
        The Space Life Sciences (SLS) Laboratory was dedicated   
   today in a ceremony hosted by NASA's Kennedy Space Center   
   (KSC) and the state of Florida.   
      
   The 100,000 square-foot facility houses labs for NASA's   
   ongoing research efforts, microbiology/microbial ecology   
   studies and analytical chemistry labs. Facilities for space   
   flight-experiment and flight-hardware development, new plant   
   growth chambers, and an Orbiter Environment Simulator that   
   will be used to conduct ground control experiments in   
   simulated flight conditions for space flight experiments also   
   call the new lab home.   
      
   Lt. Governor Toni Jennings said, "Today we celebrate the   
   dedication of the new Space Life Sciences Lab and a new era in   
   education and economic partnership. This new facility will   
   greatly benefit Florida's university community." Jennings is   
   chair of the Florida Space Authority's Board of Supervisors.   
   Invited guests included dignitaries, government   
   representatives and partners.   
      
   "The SLS Lab provides NASA's gateway to space with operations   
   and research capability to effectively use the International   
   Space Station and take full advantage of research and   
   commercialization opportunities," said KSC Director Jim   
   Kennedy. "It provides a meeting place for our partners in   
   research to work together. We anticipate researchers from   
   around the world performing investigations in the SLS Lab,   
   addressing key issues in biological sciences, enabling   
   improved life on earth and long duration space flight," he   
   said.   
      
   The facility, completed in August of this year, represents a   
   partnership between NASA and the state of Florida. The state,   
   through Florida Space Authority, built the research   
   laboratory. The facility is part of a $30 million project that   
   also includes Space Commerce Way, the new public roadway   
   providing 24-hour access to International Space Research Park.   
      
   The Florida Space Authority Director, Captain Winston Scott,   
   said, "This new facility represents a new way of doing   
   business to advance the 'state of Space.' The only way we'll   
   continue to do that in the future is through partnerships of   
   this kind."   
      
   Kennedy Space Center, in partnership with Florida Space   
   Authority, is developing the International Space Research Park   
   at KSC. The SLS Lab, formerly known as the Space Experiment   
   Research and Processing Laboratory or SERPL, provides space   
   for NASA's Life Sciences Services contractor Dynamac   
   Corporation, Bionetics Corporation, and researchers from the   
   University of Florida. NASA's Office of Biological and   
   Physical Research will use the facility for processing life   
   sciences experiments that will be conducted on the   
   International Space Station. The SLS Lab is the magnet   
   facility for the Research Park.   
      
   Space Commerce Way also connects NASA Causeway and Kennedy   
   Parkway to provide a throughway to the Kennedy Space Center   
   Visitor Center and the Astronaut Hall of Fame.   
      
   For more information on space research, visit:   
      
   http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/   
      
      
   -end-   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)