A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Research Announcement (NRA), entitled, ” Research Opportunities in Space Life Sciences: Fundamental Space Biology – Animal Physiology ” (NRA NNH09ZTT003N), has been released and is available through the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and then linking through the menu listings “Solicitations” to “Open Solicitations.”
This NRA solicits hypothesis-driven Fundamental Space Biology (FSB) research proposals that will answer fundamental questions about how physiological systems respond to gravity, or to changes in gravity, using animal (excluding single cell organisms and cell culture) model specimens. FSB addresses basic questions of how life responds to gravity and space environments. The force of gravity plays a major role in shaping life into its myriad forms. In addition, the radiation environment on Earth differs from radiation environments in space, because Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere shield life on Earth from some components of space radiation. Rapid advances in biological technology and the increasingly rapid pace of new knowledge provide opportunities to examine the very foundations of life. Fundamental space biology uses ground based space environment analogs supplemented with space based investigations to probe the fundamental nature of life in order to enhance our understanding of how life responds to physical forces on Earth and serve as the basic biological foundation in support of exploration.
Notices of Intent (NOIs) are due on June 26, 2009, and full proposals are due on August 26, 2009. Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, nonprofit organizations, NASA centers, and other Government agencies. Proposals must be submitted electronically via the NASA Proposal data system NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com).
