In this artists impression supplied by the ESO (European Southern Observatory) on April 25, 2007, the planetary system around the red dwarf, Gliese 581, is pictured showing what astronomers believe is the most earth like planet found outside our solar system to date. (Photo by ESO via Getty Images)

MENLO PARK (CBS 5) Citizens in Space, a non-profit group that hopes to use the new wave of private sub-orbital space flight to make scientific breakthroughs, has an informational meeting planned for this Thursday, where citizen scientists will be encouraged to develop experiments to be carried into space.

According to the organization, Citizens in Space has booked 10 flight on the Lynx Rocketplane being developed by XCOR Aerospace. The group has said it plans to train 10 citizen astronauts to fly aboard the missions, which will carry about 100 science experiments into space.

Edward Wright, project manager for Citizens in Space, will discuss an open call for citizen-science experiments at a Menlo Park routable at the TechShop from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Suborbital vehicles like the Lynx will open up spaceflight to private citizens the same way microcomputers opened up computing, Wright said in the press release. The combination of low-cost spaceflight and modern technologywill enable citizen scientists to perform amazing space-science experiments.

Other speakers will include members of James Camerons DeepSea Challenge project, and the SETI Institute.

Tickets for the event are still available. Admission is $30 for the general public, $20 for Roundtable members, and $10 for students.

Citizens in space said their flight may begin by the end of 2013.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

See the article here:

Public Recruited For New Space Experiment Ideas In South Bay