DORGAN SAYS LAUNCH OF SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR IS HISTORIC MOMENT FOR UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Tonight's launch will carry UND-built AgCam to International Space Station
Friday, November 14, 2008
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said Friday that tonight’s launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour will be a historic achievement for the students and faculty at UND who built the AgCam, which will be carried aboard and installed on the International Space Station.
Through his position on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Dorgan has secured $16.1 million for UND’s Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium, which created the AgCam. This year, Dorgan included an additional $3 million in a pending appropriations bill for UMAC to develop an AgCam mission control center at UND and make the images captured by AgCam available to the public through UMAC’s web page.
“I am so proud to have been able to secure funding for AgCam, and I congratulate the University of North Dakota and NASA on this great success,” Dorgan said. “The launch of AgCam into space marks a great day for the University of North Dakota and is a real testament to the quality of research and innovation going on in the Red River Valley Research Corridor. This camera was built by UND students and researchers, will be controlled at a facility at UND, and will help farmers and ranchers in North Dakota and across the Upper Midwest.”
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