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Writer's pictureUplift Aerospace

SPACE+ TO CONTRACT AN ASTRONAUT FROM A GROUP OF FIVE FINALISTS

Updated: Feb 17, 2023

Park City, Utah, June 17, 2022 – NRP Stone, Inc. (OTC PINK:NRPI) NRP Stone, Inc. subsidiary, Uplift Aerospace, is privileged to announce the selection of 5 finalists for their upcoming Space+ astronaut position. The chosen astronaut and community ambassador will travel to space aboard an upcoming Blue Origin New Shepard rocket to showcase Space+’s Starborn Program, which aims to provide greater access and diversity in space.



Image. The five Space+ finalists of which one individual will be selected to become the first Space+ Astronaut on an upcoming Blue Origin mission.


Voting will open for current members of the Space+ community this coming Saturday, June 18th. Membership is established through blockchain technology through the ownership of a Space+ Launch Pass NFT. The Launch Pass collection consists of 1969 tokens representing the world’s first Web3 astronaut class. Only holders of the Space+ Launch Passes will be eligible to apply to become astronauts on upcoming real-life missions in the Starborn Space Program.


The finalists are Ruben Salinas, Trent Tresch, Joan Melendez-Misner, Mike Mongo, and Sydney Hamilton. The five potential astronauts were chosen through an objective evaluation process by a third party HR firm contracted by Uplift Aerospace to prevent bias. The finalists were graded according to specific criteria: ability to comply with Blue Origin physical flight requirements, availability, devotion to space exploration, passion for the Space+ project, and completion of necessary legal application documents.


Ruben “Lightyear” Salinas (Twitter: @rubenfsalinas) is a Latino medtech serial entrepreneur, government advisor, and activist supporting underrepresented leaders in life sciences. He has pioneered and patented multiple medical technologies, several of which have become standards of care globally. In 2017, Ruben was selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar and appointed by Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts to the Massachusetts Economic Development Planning Council in 2018. He is also an active duty volunteer EMT, a pilot, avid biker, and scuba diver.


Trent Tresch (Twitter: @Moonshot87b) is the Founding Director of the University of Arizona’s Center for Human Space Exploration. Even in his 20’s, Trent has a vision. With a humanities degree from Western Washington University, he’s pushed the limits to bridge the gap in traditional aerospace and new space-innovation. Here to inspire all generation’s of all backgrounds, Trent is an explorer and teacher at heart. His projects and affiliations range from training people for space at the Biosphere 2 (https://biosphere2.org/) to even researching the deep ocean via submarine with the Sustainable Oceans Alliance and the Explorers Club.


Joan Melendez Misner (Twitter: @YourFemaleEng) is an Integration Engineer at NASA working on space & asteroid planetary defense missions. Her work includes sending a helicopter to Titan (Dragonfly), a spacecraft to Europa (Europa Clipper), and crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid (DART). Joan volunteers throughout the community and is fully involved with STEM Outreach Programs, most notably, Passage (https://www.passageflight.org/) – a program aimed to bring STEM education to Latin America. For Joan, being a change maker and inspiring the next generation is her ultimate goal.


Astronaut teacher & NFT creator Mike Mongo (Twitter: @MikeMongo) is author of “The Astronaut Instruction Manual” and host of “Mike Mongo’s Astronaut Adventures” on YT. Mongo is the founder of Astronaut Job Camp at SaxaVord Spaceport, and co-creator of Muttniks NFT (Twitter: @PawsInSpace). Mike is famous for supporting student’s success in space and astronautics, annually speaking to thousands of students around the world and regularly coaching students in achieving space and astronautic careers. He is a Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) alum and presently serves on SEDS Board of Advisors.


Finally, Sydney Hamilton (Twitter: @SeeSydSoar) was the 1st African-American to win the Space & Satellite Professionals International (Twitter: @SSPI) Promise Award. She is a STEM Advocate inspiring future space leaders. Sydney was honored at the Smithsonian for inspiring the youth via aerospace with a life-size 3D-printed statue. Her goal is to leverage the Space+ community to expose more untapped global talent to opportunities in space! Sydney is an Aerospace Structures Manager at Boeing.


The Starborn Space Program is the first Web3 Space Program. Membership to the space program is facilitated through ownership of Launch Pass NFT tokens that double as membership for real-life access to space including suborbital space flights, the International Space Station, and with the vision of creating a community-supported mission to the Moon. The upcoming Starborn NFT collection will provide access to a web3 metaverse for holders that provides a technological bridge for commerce and culture between Earth and space.



ABOUT UPLIFT AEROSPACE

Uplift Aerospace, a subsidiary of NRP Stone, Inc., is an aerospace company pioneering advanced technologies for a multiplanetary economy to revolutionize humanity's connection with space and promote the conservation of Earth. Our products symbolize humanity’s boundless capability and commitment to exploration. Uplift is working towards manufacturing and delivering products from space to ensure a sustainable future on Earth.


For more information, visit https://www.upliftaerospace.com/investors.


MEDIA CONTACT: press@upliftaerospace.com


US OTC Symbol: NRPI; CUSIP: 62940J200. For the latest updates, visit upliftaerospace.com and follow @upliftaerospace on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


Disclosures and Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Expressions of future goals and similar expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies, economic and market factors, successful integration of acquisitions, the ability to secure additional sources of financing, the ability to reduce operating expenses and other factors. The actual results that the company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. The Company, its management, or affiliates, undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.


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