Instead of gathering around a conference table, people who visit the Space Portal of the NASA Research Park are invited to settle into one of the large upholstered leather chairs arranged in a circle. Although the grouping of mismatched furniture appears haphazard, it is designed to make visitors feel at ease while discussing commercial business ventures, financing options or government space policy. "If you want to innovate, you need comfy chairs," said Daniel Rasky, Space Portal director. Innovation is the primary goal of the Space Portal, an organization established in 2005 by a group of NASA veterans with diverse backgrounds who shared a common interest in promoting commercial space activity. That group included: Rasky, an expert on thermal protection technologies; Lynn Harper, one of the founders of the science of astrobiology; Mark Newfield, NASA Ames project manager for the Mars Exploration Rover Thermal Protection System; and Bruce Pittman, an aerospace engineer who worked on NASA satellite missions before co-founding commercial space ventures, including Kistler Aerospace Corp. and SpaceHab Inc.
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