NASA’s Human Research Program and the National Space
Biomedical Research Institute, or NSBRI, of Houston will fund a dozen
proposals to help investigate questions about astronaut health and
performance on future space exploration missions. The selected
proposals, representing 11 institutions in eight states, will receive
a total of almost $16 million during a three to four-year period.
The Human Research Program provides knowledge and technologies to
improve human health and performance during space exploration. The
program also develops possible countermeasures for problems
experienced during space travel.
Goals include the successful completion of exploration missions and
preservation of astronauts’ health throughout their lives. The
program quantifies crew health and performance risks during
spaceflight and develops strategies that mission planners and system
developers can use to monitor and mitigate health and performance
risks.
The 12 projects were selected from 54 proposals NASA received in
response to a research announcement titled “Research and Technology
Development to Support Crew Health and Performance in Space
Exploration Missions.”
The proposals were reviewed by non-NASA technical experts and selected
by NASA and NSBRI. Five of the projects will join the Human Research
Program’s team of principal investigators, while seven will join
NSBRI’s team-based research program.
NSBRI is a NASA-funded consortium of institutions studying health
risks related to long-duration spaceflight. The institute’s science,
technology and education projects take place at more than 60
institutions across the United States.
A complete list of the selected principal investigators, organizations
and proposals is available on the Web at:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/acd/hrp_nsbri_awards_2009.html
For information about NASA’s Human Research Program, visit:
http://humanresearch.jsc.nasa.gov
For information about NSBRI’s science, technology and education
programs, visit: http://www.nsbri.org
