CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY • CLEVELAND, OHIO 44106 



May 27. 19E 



Mr. Daniel J. Fink 



Chairman, NASA Advisory Council 



National Aeronautics and Space 



Administration (NASA) 

 600 Independence Avenue, SW 

 Washington, DC 20546 



Dear Dan: 



On behalf of the NASA Advisory Council's Life Sciences Strategic Planning Study 

 Committee, I am pleased to forward herewith our final report. The Committee began 

 its work in September 1986. It was charged with reviewing the status of Life Sciences 

 within NASA, examining its goals, and suggesting ways and means of attaining these 

 goals. 



The Committee's findings and recommendations are presented in abbreviated form 

 in the summary. More detailed information, which provides support for the 

 Committee's conclusions, is contained in a series of papers that comprise the body 

 of the report. Background on the Committee and its members is presented in the 

 appendix. 



The Committee is firmly convinced and cannot emphasize enough that a stronger 

 Life Sciences program is an imperative if the U.S. space policy is to construct a 

 permanently manned Space Station and achieve its stated goal of expanding the human 

 presence beyond Earth orbit into the solar system. The same considerations apply 

 in regard to the other major goal of Life Sciences: to study biological processes and 

 life in the universe. Developing a stronger program will require increasing the 

 involvement of first-rate investigators at both universities and research institutions 

 as well as at the present NASA research centers, such as Ames and Johnson. Some 

 of our recommendations deal specifically with these issues. It is evident that much 

 depends upon varied flight opportunities. From the point of view of learning what 

 is necessary so that man can exist safely for extended periods in space, however, 

 the availability of the Space Station becomes crucial. Not only is the Space Station 

 critical, but the facilities need to be adequate as to size and equipment to achieve 

 their purpose. The complexity of the issues and the multidisciplinary nature of the 

 Life Sciences enterprise require that life scientists be intimately involved in most 

 aspects of NASA's overall planning and design activities, whether they concern setting 

 budget priorities, developing the Space Station, designing space suits, or programming 

 unmanned probes to Mars. 



Cleveland Study of (he Elderly 

 Department of Epidemiology 



and Biostatistics 

 School of Medicine 



Area Code: 216 Telephone 368-3760 



