HOUSTON — NASA’s Johnson Space Center has awarded a five-year, $120-million extension of its cooperative agreement with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, also known as NSBRI, of Houston. Under the extension, the institute and NASA’s Human Research Program will continue biomedical research in support of a long-term human presence in space.
The base period of the cooperative agreement began April 1, 1997, with a value of $93.6 million. The first five-year extension was exercised in 2002, extending the agreement to Sept. 30, 2007, and increasing its value by $148.5 million. This second five-year option will extend the agreement through Sept. 30, 2012, and increase its value by an additional $120 million, bringing the total value to $362 million.
The NSBRI studies the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight and develops countermeasures to mitigate them. NSBRI projects address space health concerns such as bone and muscle loss, cardiovascular changes, infection, balance problems, sleep disturbances, radiation exposure effects, nutrition, physical fitness, rehabilitation, remote-treatment medical technologies and neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors.
The institute’s science, technology and education projects take place at more than 70 institutions in 26 U.S. states.
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