Findings and Recommendations 



Strategic Milestones for 1989-1991 



Life sciences research requires replication to verify experimental results, a process 

 that involves considerable time in planning and conducting the investigations, as 

 well as in developing advanced technology. Working from this understanding, the 

 Committee recommends that NASA should do the following in the next 3 years: 



• Strengthen the planning process of the Life Sciences Division by assuring its 

 timely integration into the Agency's overall strategic planning process. 



• Augment life sciences research programs to establish the base of scientific 

 knowledge required by planners and engineers to conduct missions relevant to 

 Agency goals. 



• Provide adequate funding to develop new state-of-the-art flight hardware for 

 upcoming manned and unmanned life sciences missions in space. Such an 

 investment will have a significant impact on the field of biomedicine not 

 unlike the impact of the Apollo Program on medicine and space science. 



• Initiate advanced technology development in the areas of minimally invasive 

 biomedical instrumentation, biological remote sensing, exobiological flight 

 instrumentation, and microwave signal processing. 



• Increase the frequency of life sciences data acquisition on the Space Shuttle 

 and international missions. 



• Conduct a study to determine the requirements for extravehicular activity 

 (EVA) for the next 20 years, to delineate innovative options, and to identify 

 needed technologies. 



Strategic Milestones for 1989-1994 



The next milestones are gauged for completion of life sciences preparations for the 

 Space Station, scheduled to begin operations in the mid-1990's, and to implement a 

 project requiring immediate action. For 1989-1994, the LSSPSC urges the Agency to: 



• Operate reusable biosatellites to obtain environmental, radiation, and artificial 

 variable-gravity data on plants and animals. 



• Achieve ground-based validation of major physiological and psychobiological 

 countermeasures for long-duration missions. 



• Conduct ground-based research on bioregenerative life support systems to 

 achieve 90-percent closure. 



• Initiate the Microwave Observing Project of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intel- 

 ligence (SETI) Program. 



Strategic Milestones for 1989-2004 



The 15-year plan looks to missions beyond the Space Station and asks the Agency 

 to: 



• Establish a combined national and international life sciences research facility 

 on the Space Station. This facility must support basic research on plants, 



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