East Kern aerospace company joins with NASA to fight COVID-19 – The Bakersfield Californian

Much has been written about the new space race, driven not by government agencies as much as private companies in eastern Kern County and beyond.

Now one of those companies with huge research and testing facilities at Mojave Air and Space Port is joining forces with NASA to focus their talent and resources on something more earthbound: battling COVID-19.

George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic, announced on the company blog last week that the company is uniquely positioned to develop new medical products specifically designed for patients with COVID-19.

The space industry has a responsibility to share expertise, knowledge, resources, and ingenuity to aid in the fight against COVID-19, Whitesides said.

Through a Space Act Agreement with NASA, Virgin Galactic has made a commitment to developing innovative solutions to the problems facing healthcare workers on the frontlines. This is our way of ensuring that the best and brightest at Virgin Galactic can support their local communities during this challenging time and provide life-saving solutions for those suffering from COVID-19."

According to Whitesides, employees at Virgin Galactic and its sister firm, The Spaceship Company, worked on the development and testing of the PPB Hood a device designed to support those admitted with COVID-19 with portable oxygen-rich pressure chambers, reducing the need for ventilator intubation.

The effort appears to be consistent with the company's mission, Using Space for Good.

But while Virgin Galactic reached the edge of space last year in test flights of its SpaceShipTwo tourism vehicle, the company founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson remains well behind its early projections to have flown hundreds of well-heeled aspiring astronauts to suborbital space by now.

Mike Moses, president of Virgin Galactic, also blogged about the new focus. and included employees at Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M.

"As we continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, I would like to thank our team for the perseverance, compassion and determination they have shown in our home of New Mexico with their ongoing effort to support local communities in response to the challenge of COVID-19," Moses said.

"As part of our relief efforts, we have made several donations of medical supplies to communities and hospitals in California and New Mexico."

The public-private team is also working on a separate project to develop and build negative pressure enclosures specialist equipment that covers a patient on a gurney or hospital bed, Whitesides said.

As Americans continue to deal with unprecedented changes brought about by the pandemic and resulting quarantines and lockdowns, it may simply be the case that private space flight has temporarily lost some of its romance.

It a time of war in this case war against a contagious viral disease Virgin Galactic is focusing, at least in part, on those on the front lines.

The work NASA employees are doing in California is one of several examples of how the agency is contributing to the whole-of-government response to coronavirus, said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. By channeling the unique skillset of our workforce and engaging private and public partners, we can make a difference."

Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.