Findings and Recommendations 



quent basis, with followup experiments flown in a timely fashion. 



• Adequate inflight research capabilities must be provided, including variable- 

 gravity facilities, on-orbit analytical equipment, and plant and animal vivaria 

 capable of supporting successive generations subjected to varying, controlled 

 gravity levels. 



• Gravitational Biology research should be coordinated with that conducted by 

 interrelated science programs, such as CELSS and Space Biomedicine. Re- 

 sources, data, and personnel should be managed to allow a free flow of infor- 

 mation among the various research projects and to enhance their relevance to 

 the Nation's space program. 



• NASA should operate its intramural and extramural research programs in a 

 manner that attracts and supports excellent new researchers, especially young 

 scientists, into the relatively new field of Gravitational Biology, as well as into 

 other areas of space life sciences. 



Planetary Biosciences Research 



This section presents findings and recommendations pertinent to the Biospherics 

 Research and Exobiology Programs, both of which currently depend on other 

 Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) divisions for opportunities to 

 conduct research in space. In addition, both have broad scientific charters, focusing 

 on biological processes that operate from local to planetary levels. The findings and 

 recommendations given below address organizational matters first, followed by 

 scientific issues. 



Findings 



• The Biospherics Research and Exobiology Programs are developing plans for 

 cooperative research with other OSSA programs having similar interests. Joint 

 programs are being formalized as follows: 



— Between the Biospherics Research Program and the Terrestrial Ecosystems Pro- 

 gram in the Earth Science and Applications Division 



— Between the Exobiology Program and the Planetary Exploration Program in the 

 Solar System Exploration Division. 



• Biospherics Research and Exobiology depend for space flight opportunities on 

 missions sponsored by other OSSA divisions. 



— Data for the Biospherics Research Program will come from the types of Earth 

 orbital missions to be included in the Earth Science and Applications Division's 

 initiative for the Earth Observing System (EOS) (see Findings for Biospherics 

 Research, section 3). 



— Planetary data for the Exobiology Program will come initially from automated 

 missions sponsored by the Solar System Exploration Division, although 

 manned Mars missions will be a major data source later. 



• Limited resources in the Biospherics Research and Exobiology Programs have 

 generally constrained the development of advanced sensing techniques and new 



33 



