NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Solar System Exploration Division, Washington, selected two New York universities for grants to support the agency’s Mars Fundamental Research Program. NASA solicited proposals to cultivate and pursue the most innovative scientific research concerning the myriad of unknowns about atmospheric, climatological, and geologic processes on Mars. The program offers opportunities to researchers interested in Mars but who are not yet prepared to work exclusively with actual mission data. Universities and maximum grants’ awards: State University of New York, Stony Brook, $30,000; Cornell University, Ithaca, $332,910.
The research also supports the Vision for Space Exploration, NASA’s long- term plan to return astronauts to the moon and extend exploration to Mars and beyond.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home .
