A Hilo-based aerospace agency is on the chopping block as lawmakers sort out the state’s budget.
Rodrigo Romo, program manager for the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, said the House is planning to continue its funding while the Senate was not as of this week.
PISCES is receiving $400,000 a year, which leaves little room for research after administrative and other costs, he said. Its small staff rents an office on Aupuni Street.
The organization originated at the University of Hawaii at Hilo but now operates under the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. It had sought a share of the state’s basalt mining royalties to help supplement its funding, but that bill failed in the Senate.
“The goal now is to maintain our funding,” said Romo, who took over administrative duties from former Executive Director Rob Kelso, a retired NASA flight director. Kelso’s position was cut last year because of funding constraints.
PISCES’ research mainly focuses on robotics and use of basalt for construction material on future space missions as well as exploring its uses on the ground here in the state.
Education also is a focus, with PISCES offering internships to students to help them launch science or engineering careers. According to PISCES, it has mentored 31 interns, 85 high school students in its Moon RIDERS program and 22 high school students in its Women’s STARS program.
Romo said the agency’s current business model focuses on supplementing state funding with research grants and other partnerships. He said PISCES has made a name for itself in the aerospace industry and he is asking the Legislature to give it another chance.
“What I’m trying to tell them is we’re the new PISCES,” Romo said. “Let me show to you that this business model works.”
As of Thursday, he had gathered 19 letters of support from business leaders; former interns and students; educators; Andrew Aldrin, astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s son; and a NASA technologist.
“The type of work PISCES is doing is key not only key for the future of Aerospace and Planetary Exploration, but for the future generation of scientists and engineers who will be designing all the systems that carry mankind to another world,” said Andrew Aldrin, director of the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute.
Romo said Rep. Mark Nakashima and Sen. Glenn Wakai also have been champions of the agency’s programs.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
