CASIS and the MassChallenge startup accelerator want to help you conduct research... in space!

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="CASIS and the MassChallenge startup accelerator want to help you conduct research IN SPACE" data-src-height="370" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/casis-2-1362868546.png" /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Most folks are familiar with the International Space Station (ISS). However, what you may not know is that the national lab on board the ISS is available to anyone to conduct research, provided that research is deemed worthy enough to make the trip into orbit. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is a non-profit tasked by NASA to find and promote those worthy proposals, and it's teamed up with the MassChallenge startup accelerator to find the next great entrepreneurial space research project -- and they want YOU, dear readers to hit them with your ideas. Want to know more? Join us after the break to find out what it takes to get your research in orbit.</div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uCCr7CSDDy0?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe> Project proposals can be in the life sciences or materials science fields, related to remote earth observation, or any other field that benefits from the extreme temperature range and microgravity environment only available in space. Should your project fit the bill, you'll get to work with the MassChallenge start-up accelerator, which provides everything a would-be company needs: mentorship from business and relevant industry folks, office space, access to funding and awards grants. MassChallenge will be doling out $1 million in grant money to a host of start-ups in $50,000 and $100,000 increments, and CASIS is putting up an additional $100,000 for the finest space-related project that makes it through the program. But that's not even the best part. CASIS also covers -- using taxpayer money, mind you -- both the cost of transporting your payload to and from the ISS and in-orbit operations costs like astronaut time to actually, you know, perform the research. To recap: you submit a research project, it gets chosen, then CASIS gives you $100K to bring it to fruition and shoots it into space on a SpaceX rocket or one of CASIS's other launch partners. It costs $199 to apply to the MassChallenge Accelerator, but we'll be giving out $100 dollar discount codes for applicants later this week, so stay tuned for that and more info on the process. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the MassChallenge and CASIS websites and get those research ideas percolating.</div></div>

CASIS and the MassChallenge startup accelerator want to help you conduct research... in space!

  Most folks are familiar with the International Space Station (ISS). However, what you may not know is that the national lab on board the...

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Visualized: First photo using ISS-mounted ISERV Pathfinder zooms in on Panama

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="DNP Visualized First photo from ISSinstalled ISERV Pathfinder" data-src-height="400" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/riosanpablo.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">It's been a while since we last heard of the ISERV Pathfinder, an imaging instrument that consists of a camera, telescope and pointing system that was sent up to the International Space Station last July. Now it appears it's safely installed inside the Destiny module on the ISS and has captured its first ever image, seen above, a few weeks ago on February 16th. The high-resolution picture is of the Rio San Pablo, an ecological transition zone that's marked as a protected area by the National Environment Authority of Panama. <span>Captured at three to seven frames per second with about 100 images per pass, photos like these are designed to transmit details of natural disasters and environmental mishaps to developing nations.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <span>Even though NASA Marshall in Huntsville, Alabama is at the helm, it's in cahoots with researchers in Central America, East Africa and the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region to carry out its goal. Of course, they're still in the starting stages at the moment -- a few outstanding issues include the amount of sunlight needed and if the geometry of the ISS window affects the image -- but NASA hopes to open up the ISERV to other scientists in a few months once it has all its kinks worked out. To check out the stunning "first light" picture above in its full resolution, head on over to the source below. </span></div></div>

Visualized: First photo using ISS-mounted ISERV Pathfinder zooms in on Panama

  It's been a while since we last heard of the ISERV Pathfinder, an imaging instrument that consists of a camera, telescope and pointing...

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Astronauts on ISS to shoot the breeze in Google+ Hangout, answer your questions

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><hr dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" /> <div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="Astronauts on ISS to shoot the breeze in Google+ Hangout, answer your questions" data-src-height="340" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/02/international-space-station.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Astronauts aboard the International Space Station and right here on terra firma are clearing their schedules for a Google+ Hangout on February 22nd, which will be the first NASA-coordinated Hangout with the ISS. Between 11 AM and noon ET, astronauts will answer questions previously submitted via video clips and those streaming in from the space agency's Facebook page, Google+ and through Tweets tagged with #askAstro. NASA isn't saying who'll snag live face-time with the spacefarers during the Hangout, but it is asking folks to upload unique and original questions in clips of 30 seconds or less to YouTube by February 12th. Yearning to have a query answered? Hit the jump for the full submission details.</div></div>

Astronauts on ISS to shoot the breeze in Google+ Hangout, answer your questions

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station and right here on terra firma are clearing their s...

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