Life Sciences in the Sf>ace Program 



discovery in the other. Some significant questions in biology, addressing both basic 

 biological processes and human health, can be answered only by space-based 

 experimentation. 



NASA's plans call for a greatly increased human role in space. Programs such as 

 the Space Station and proposals for lunar and Martian exploration will require 

 extensive basic and applied research. They will also require the Agency to assess 

 and build on past efforts and accomplishments. 



Personnel 



Science is advanced by having many curious and innovative individuals generating 

 ideas and experiments to test the ideas. Opportunities must be available, however, 

 for the implementation of those experiments. Very real problems exist in this area 

 when it comes to space and space life sciences research. 



Investigators who have already been promised flight time see previous flight 

 delays compounded even further. Graduate students, laboratory space, and 

 institutional support become more difficult to justify. People who had been 

 considering the submission of a proposed experiment see the wait time as being 

 better spent pursuing projects that can promise a faster turnaround. This is 

 especially unfortunate when young graduate students want to pursue a career in 

 space research but see that their proposal might not fly until several years after 

 the date they had planned to finish their education. 



Space life sciences, if they are to attract and hold those minds most able to use 

 the space environment to discover the secrets of nature, must offer participants the 

 opportunity to experiment on a regular and frequent basis. 



Findings 



• The health of any scientific discipline is directly related to the availability of 

 individuals to perform needed research. Ensuring that such a community is 

 accessible starts with education. NASA has always made great efforts to involve 

 students in its activities. NASA's Life Sciences Division has made special 

 attempts to involve students directly in actual research. Excellent examples 

 include the Space Life Sciences Training Program oriented toward under- 

 graduates and a number of graduate assistantship programs. 



• Significant efforts have already been made toward the establishment of formal 

 working relationships with other Government agencies and research organi- 

 zations, such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science 

 Foundation, the National Research Council, the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense. 



Recommendation* 



NASA should greatly expand its efforts to attract and support new space life 

 sciences researchers. A special effort should be made to support the students 

 i will become the scientific investigators of the 21st century. 



ISh 



