Space Studies Board Annual Report 1993 (1994) / Chapter Skim
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Letter Reports
Letter Reports
Pages 20-37
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From page 20... ...
The enclosed report states3 that The Space Studies Board strongly affirms the position that a suitably equipped space-based laboratory is required to study the physiological consequences of long-term spaceflight. The Board has summarized the major characteristics of such a space station on several occasions, extracting these from the fundamental guidance provided in the Goldberg report of its Committee on Space Biology and Medicine.4 At the same time that the space station design is being reevaluated, it is apparent that the new administration may be reexamining the position of human space exploration within national priorities.
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From page 21... ...
The body of the Board's work in space biology, together with the efforts of other advisory groups,8 provides comprehensive guidance on the capabilities needed to pave the way for this enterprise. If the goal of human exploration is superseded as the premise for the nation's space station program, planning and implementation of orbital research infrastructure should be adjusted to meet the requirements of the new objectives efficiently and cost-consciously.
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From page 22... ...
USE OF RESEARCH ANIMALS ON SPACELAB LIFE SCIENCES-2 The use of animals in research has been of fundamental importance to the progress that has been made in biology and medicine. Integral to the scientific success of the upcoming Spacelab Life Sciences-2 (SLS-2)
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From page 23... ...
The Committee on Space Biology and Medicine recommends that all NASA-sponsored extramural and intramural life sciences research proposals and programs be subject to external peer review conducted at regular intervals. Further, in order to guard against a real or perceived conflict of interest, NASA Headquarters should regularly review the policy and management practices applied to extramural research programs by intramural contract and grant administrators and monitors.
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From page 24... ...
For NASA's life sciences program, and specifically the SLS 2 flight scheduled for August 1993, the use of research animals is critical to the scientific success of the mission. Some of the rodents must be sacrificed in space.1 The Committee on Space Biology and Medicine agrees that this experimental protocol is well justified, for the following reasons: One of the most powerful tools available for the study of physiological processes in space and the development of measures to counter the effects of microgravity is animal research.2,3 Marked advances in biology, physiology, and medicine have been made possible through careful, scientific study of animals in the laboratory.4 The physiological consequences of exposure to microgravity have not yet been separated from those due to reentry forces because, in previous missions, tissue samples were collected only after return to Earth.5-7 In contrast, SLS-2 will, for the first time, offer the unique opportunity to collect tissue samples in the microgravity environment according to the same procedures used in ground-based studies and will allow for direct comparison of the tissue samples collected in both environments.
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NASA Headquarters should regularly review the policy and management practices applied to extramural research programs by intramural contract and grant administrators and monitors. In an attempt to use its resources and intramural scientific personnel as effectively as possible, NASA often uses its scientists and group leaders as Research and Technology Operating Plan (RTOP)
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ATTACHMENT C Optimizing the Scientific Benefits of the U.S./Russian Shuttle/Mir Program The Committee on Space Biology and Medicine recognizes that the U.S./Russian Shuttle/Mir Program was initiated primarily to demonstrate international cooperation and that the program has specific engineering goals. It further recognizes that life sciences activities performed as a part of this program face severe time constraints.12 Within this context, the committee offers the following comments and recommendations with the goal of maximizing scientific achievements in the life sciences for both countries.
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From page 27... ...
Acknowledging the constraints and uncertainties associated with this program, NASA Headquarters should nevertheless take all possible measures to ensure that biomedical science activities on this mission be subject to rigorous peer review. Outside independent experts should be brought into the project to maximize the likelihood of achieving scientific goals.
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participation in the biosatellite program, the Committee on Space Biology and Medicine recommends that: NASA should formally evaluate the relative benefits and cost effectiveness of different platforms for animal research in space. Depending on the outcome of this analysis, NASA should consider providing research support in the 1995 life sciences budget for the biosatellite project.
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14Assessment of Programs in Space Biology and Medicine -- 1991, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1991. 15"Cosmos Biosatellite Program," Presentation by Frank Sulzman, NASA Headquarters, to Committee on Space Biology and Medicine, January 27, 1993.
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From page 30... ...
, a joint panel of the Space Studies Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy, finds that the restructured AXAF program-consisting of AXAF-I, to be launched into a high-Earth orbit in 1998, and AXAF-S, to be launched into a polar, low-Earth orbit in 1999-is fully capable of meeting the primary scientific goals of the former AXAF program. Although the need to reduce substantially the total cost of the program has led to shorter mission lifetimes, the expected increase in operating efficiency partly makes up for this shortfall.
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These were addressed to AXAF program officials at NASA Headquarters and AXAF project officials at the Marshall Space Flight Center. In addition, all members of the AXAF Science Working Group were invited to provide to the TGA information and comments concerning the revised program.
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, the Space Science Board's Committee on Space Astronomy and Astrophysics stated that it "concurred with the recommendations of the Astronomy Survey Committee (1980) , which urges the construction of AXAF .
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However, because the costs associated with such a program are too high to sustain in the current budget environment, NASA and the AXAF Science Working Group have decided that a pair of limited-life missions is a preferable scenario for accomplishing the scientific goals of the AXAF program. The TGA endorses this view and believes that the revised AXAF program will satisfy the scientific expectations encompassed by previous NRC committee reports, even though it will not provide a permanent x-ray observatory in space.
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From page 34... ...
Such a direct observational test of nucleosynthesis theory will allow us to apply these models with confidence to abundance patterns in galaxies at high redshift. Comparison of the Original and Revised Programs The restructuring of the AXAF program splits the original, single facility (AXAF-O)
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From page 35... ...
The design lifetime of AXAF-I is five years, and the design lifetime of AXAF-S is three years. Since the technical aspects of the various instrument designs remain almost entirely unchanged, the scientific performance of the unified AXAF program is largely preserved.
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From page 36... ...
The restructured AXAF program continues to provide unmatched angular resolution, spectral resolution, and sensitivity that will make it the centerpiece of international efforts in x-ray astronomy for the foreseeable future. When the AXAF-I and AXAF-S spacecraft are launched at the end of this decade, they will provide unique capabilities permitting major advances in our understanding of the universe.
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From page 37... ...
Membership Lists Last update 9/5/00 at 9:40 am Site managed by Anne Simmons, Space Studies Board The National Academies Current Projects Publications Directories Search Site Map Feedback file:///C|/SSB_old_web/axaf93ltr.htm (8 of 8)
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