Program Administration 



interests have made it difficult to coordinate such activities as life support systems, 

 human factors elements, and extravehicular activity (EVA). On the positive side, 

 during the past few years the relationship between the Astronaut Corps and 

 program of the Life Sciences Division has improved because of the mutual 

 recognition of the importance of working together on an ongoing basis, rather 

 than when it is time to put an experiment on flight. 



Because of the nature of its programs, the Life Sciences Division has natural 

 overlap with efforts under way in other Federal agencies. The Agency has made 

 attempts over the years to develop contact with relevant research programs at the 

 National Institutes of Health; these have had varying degrees of success. Recently, 

 the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has encouraged 

 coordination among these programs. 



Several other agencies and organizations (including the Department of Agriculture, 

 the Department of Defense, specifically the Air Force, the Department of Energy, 

 and the National Science Foundation) have expressed an interest in developing 

 close, productive working relationships with NASA in their particular areas of 

 interest and on efforts of mutual involvement. It was clear that those surveyed 

 believe it essential that NASA programs be complementary or cooperative with 

 other agencies sharing similar objectives. All representatives were amenable to 

 meeting with NASA to explore available, appropriate mechanisms for furthering 

 interagency collaboration. However, they emphasized that NASA, viewed as the 

 leading Government agency in space biomedical research, should take the 

 initiative in investigating such opportunities. 



Findings and Recommendations 



Most of the problems described above have been identified by staff of the Life 

 Sciences Division, and major steps have been taken to address them. A significant 

 recent effort was to assure that a properly constituted committee develop the long- 

 range strategy and that implementation follows this step. The creation of the Life 

 Sciences Division Science Management Plan in January 1988 was a significant 

 milestone, for the document defines the major research component of the Life 

 Sciences program and identifies the structural relationships among these elements. 

 In this document, the Division has given attention to many issues that have 

 confronted the program. At the same time, the magnitude of related challenges 

 requires commitment and support by all levels of the NASA organization, not 

 simply the Division. 



Perspectives on NASA Life Sciences 



Findings 



• Through most of their existence, NASA life sciences programs have been 

 viewed as level-of-effort activities within the Agency. Until very recently, they 

 have experienced a number of problems that validate this general finding. 



177 



