Background: 1989–1997

NASA staff suggested in 1989 that flying my artwork aboard the KC135 might be a realistic first step toward placing a project aboard a space shuttle (which is what I would like to ultimately do). During the summer of 1996, I contacted Burke Fort, director of the Texas Space Grant Program. Fort informed me about the Reduced Gravity Program and directed me to local contact Mike Wiskerchen, director of the California Space Grant Program [13].

I began to understand that institutional structures would need to be sculpted before I could submit a proposal to fly a "research experiment" aboard the KC135. What I intended to be private art quickly became public as I discovered that Research Project 33 would have to be sponsored by an institution of higher education to be accepted as part of the NASA Student Reduced Gravity Flight Program. The program also required that (1) the academic institution be an official member of the National Space Grant Program, (2) the project be integrated into a college class, (3) the academic institution raise funds to accommodate all travel costs for its student flight team, and (4) the “student flight team” submit a proposal on behalf of the institution.

In October 1996, I presented my concept of Research Project Number 33 to Larry Thomas, dean of academic affairs at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). Thomas agreed to affiliate my project with this accredited academic institution. NASA’s Mike Wiskerchen informed me that SFAI, as a result of Research Project Number 33, would officially become the first fine arts institution to participate in the National Space Grant Program. Up to this point only scientific institutions had participated.

SFAI student-artists Elizabeth Allbee Abascal, Clovis Blackwell, Kris Shapiro and I submitted a proposal to the NASA program in November 1997 [14]. I acted as flight team leader and NASA liaison, and oversaw the proposal development. The extensive proposal included descriptions of Project Synopsis, Objectives, Test Description, Equipment Description, Structural Load Analysis, Electrical Load Analysis, Pressure Vessel Certification, In-flight Test Procedures, Parabola Requirements, Test Support Requirements, Data Acquisition Systems, Flight Manifest, Photographic Requirements, Outreach Plans, Hazard Analysis and Team Contact Information. The proposal met with success after a rigorous national competition with major science schools, and on 12 December 1997, Research Project 33 was accepted. A unique adventure was about to begin for this band of artists. Like all such teams, we faced interpersonal, logistical, political and emotional challenges inherent to our exotic journey.

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