Findings and Recommendations 



data system in the astronaut medical information data base. At present, however, 

 no standardized and formal system exists for archiving and analyzing the infor- 

 mation derived from NASA's life sciences missions. Without such a system, and 

 without even a director)' of available data, valuable information about these mis- 

 sions may be overlooked or lost. 



• Many scientific agencies in the United States and abroad have research interests 

 parallel to NASA's in physical conditioning, radiation tolerance, interactions 

 among crew members, and life support requirements. NASA and the other agen- 

 cies could benefit by enhancing cooperative research, beginning with ground- 

 based models and continuing with experimentation in space. 



Recommendations 



• NASA should immediately expand its program of ground-based research to 

 resolve the outstanding questions about physiological deconditioning, radia- 

 tion exposure, potential psychological difficulties, and life support require- 

 ments that may limit stay times for personnel on the Space Station and more 

 extended missions. 



— Research should focus in part on the type of Space Station program needed 

 to validate the models used and test the countermeasures developed in the 

 ground-based program. 



— Comparability should be achieved between ground-based and space-based 

 data by maintaining an atmospheric composition equivalent to that on Earth 

 inside the pressurized module of the Space Station. 



• NASA should plan an orderly, phased introduction of advanced life support 

 and EVA technology into future manned space systems. 



— As part of this effort, the Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems 

 (CELSS) Program should conduct experiments to determine whether reduced 

 gravity levels are sources of stress that make plants less productive. 



— These experiments should be conducted in cooperation with the Gravita- 

 tional Biology Program. 



• NASA should design and build a suite of variable-gravity facilities for life 

 sciences research. 



— They should be of sufficient size to accommodate various plant and animal 

 specimens for basic research in gravitational biology and to test centrifugal 

 fields as a countermeasure to microgravity in laboratory animals. 



— In addition, these facilities should evolve to include a human-rated system. 



• In allocating payload and support resources for the Space Station, NASA 

 should give first priority to life sciences research that will make human mis- 

 sions of extended duration possible. Laboratories for clinical and basic biologi- 

 cal research should be available as soon as manned operations begin. 



■4ASA should take the following steps to ensure crew health and safety on the 

 Space Station and missions of longer duration: 



JO 



