Jenam 2011WASHINGTON DC – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that West Virginia University (WVU) will receive $800,000 from NASA for the creation of a space instrument development facility. This funding was made available through a Congressional Directed Spending (CDS) request made by Senator Capito, and will provide the infrastructure needed to complete the facility. In total, Senator Capito received $241,135,000 in direct spending measures for initiatives and projects throughout West Virginia through the FY2022 Omnibus Appropriations Package.
“This is great news for WVU, and it will serve to further elevate West Virginia’s tradition and involvement in our nation’s space exploration,” Senator Capito said. “WVU has established itself as a premier research institution, and the addition of a spacecraft development facility on campus will help expand research and development capabilities in Morgantown. I am excited to use my role on the Senate Appropriations Committee to serve WVU and increase opportunities for our students.
“Thanks to Senator Capito, WVU is poised to play an important role in a variety of planned and potential future NASA missions,” Dr. Earl Scime, Jefimenko professor of physics and astronomy, said. “With this facility, WVU researchers will be able to build, test, and then fly new instruments in space, greatly expanding our potential roles in these missions. Without this resource, we would simply not be competitive for such new projects and our students would not have the experience of being able to build space instruments directly.
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