Engineering Research and Technology Development on the Space Station (1996) / Chapter Skim
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ENSURING BENIFITS TO THE NATION
ENSURING BENIFITS TO THE NATION
Pages 58-66
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From page 58... ...
Tort law increases the risks of innovation, and anti-trust regulations influence the ability of companies to form research consortia. And the education system at all levels must provide the basic human capital needed for successful innovation.
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From page 59... ...
This would require strong efforts to market the results of ERTD experiments to government and industry and to assist companies to commercialize capabilities acquired by carrying out NASA contracts. · The ISS could be used as a laboratory for commercially-funded ERTD to create new and improved products and processes.
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From page 60... ...
Incentives to increase such travel could include programs to encourage university faculty members to spend sabbaticals at NASA centers, exchange programs involving engineers at NASA centers and institutes and engineers in universities and industry, partially supported opportunities for industrial engineers to work at NASA centers or in university space laboratories for extended periods, and fellowships to enable graduate students to spend an academic year at a NASA center. Helping Contractors Commercialize ERTD Much of the technology developed for the International Space Station does not reside within NASA, but rather with the contractors and subcontractors who are implementing the project.
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From page 61... ...
To compete successfully, NASA contractors and subcontractors have developed a highly sophisticated understanding of government space markets and specialized skills in competing there. But in some cases this specialization has inhibited them from developing a comparable understanding of the commercial marketplace, especially for nonspace applications.
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From page 62... ...
Thus, NASA would have to adapt the forum concept to the business environment and culture of the space contractor industry. NASA might want to begin with a small pilot program, perhaps operated through one or more of the NASA centers.
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From page 63... ...
Allocating ISS Resources to Commercial Users To let the market select ISS projects, NASA must make ISS resources (including payload accommodations, electric power, crew time, and communications)
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From page 64... ...
Although NASA intends to create a commercial space industry, it is not clear whether the agency is willing to support an industry built on selling items without any scientific value, such as stamps for collectors or billboards on the outside of the ISS. NASA could ensure that commercial ERTD and other scientific experiments were not squeezed out by such payloads by "zoning" commercially auctioned resources to ensure a majority of scientific and engineering payloads.
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From page 65... ...
To broaden the range and strengthen the effectiveness of its technology transfer activities, NASA should begin a pilot program to explore how the "enterprise growth forum" concept can be applied to small companies and entrepreneurs within the NASA contractor community. The forum concept should include multidisciplinary review panels that would emphasize both immediate feedback on business plans and giving participating companies an opportunity to make beneficial contacts with potential investors, customers, and partners.
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From page 66... ...
NASA should ensure that ERTD on the ISS helps to educate the next generation of scientists and engineers. This might involve reserving some internal and external ISS payload accommodations with simple interfaces for student experiments or encouraging NASAL nded ERTD projects to use undergraduate and graduate research assistants.
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