Earth science researchers study photos such as this image of Lake Issyk-Kul’ and Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan, which was taken by a space shuttle astronaut in 1994.

Facilities and Projects

Advanced Life Support and Gravitational Biology
Researchers using the Biomass Production Chamber at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., are developing technologies and learning how to grow plants in a closed bioregenerative environment.

Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory
The Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory is developing a new type of rocket technology, the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket. This new type of technology could dramatically shorten human transit times between planets (about 3 months to Mars).

Advanced Technology Integration
The Advanced Technology Integration Web site is for any technology developer interested in partnering with NASA to advance technologies for human space flight. The site includes information on NASA technology needs and features more than 50 streaming audio talks.

Biological Systems Office
The mission of Biological Systems Office at Johnson Space Center is to use NASA’s unique resources to conduct and support world-class, peer-reviewed research in the areas of cell biology, tissue engineering, disease modeling and vaccine and drug development.

Commercial Product Development
The International Space Station Commercial Opportunity is about stimulating business investment in the development of new markets and industries in low-Earth orbit. NASA uses its position as both a customer and a service provider to stimulate new commercial space businesses and let the market take over when it reaches profitability.

Current Space Station Experiments
Scientists are taking advantage of the microgravity environment to perform longterm experiments aboard the International Space Station.

Earth Studies
Scientists study NASA's high-resolution photographs of the ever-changing Earth to learn about the planetary processes that affect its ecology.

Engineering Research and Technology
The goals of the Engineering Research and Technology, or ERT, program include maximizing the use of the International Space Station as a unique on-orbit laboratory.

Habitability and Environmental Factors Office
The Habitability and Environmental Factors Office at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, is responsible for providing a safe and productive environment for any human spacecraft or habitat. It oversees the research and technology development to enable humans to safely and effectively live and work in space.

Long-Duration Space Flight
The Human Space Science Critical Path Road Map identifies the dangers of space flight to the human body and seeks to shows the steps required to mitigating those dangers.

NASA Research Opportunities
NASA has several mechanisms by which scientists can apply to participate in space research.

National Space Biomedical Research Institute
The NSBRI combines the basic research capabilities of some of the nation's leading biomedical research laboratories and universities with the operational and applied research of NASA to understand the effects of the space flight environment on the human body and to provide "countermeasures" which support future human exploration for both men and women.

Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory
The Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory was established in 1989 to define the nutritional requirements for space flight. The laboratory supports operational assessment of crewmember nutritional status, as well as ground-based and flight research projects. Research projects have included studies of the effects of space flight on energy and nutrient metabolism, body composition, erythropoiesis, fluid and electrolyte homeostasis, and the human musculoskeletal system.

Space Physiology Laboratory
The Space Physiology Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif., investigates three interrelated areas: structural and functional adaptations to gravity, acclimation to microgravity and countermeasures to adverse effects of space flight.

Space Radiation Health Project
The purpose and vision of NASA’s Space Radiation Health Project is to achieve human exploration and development of space without exceeding an acceptable level of risk from exposure to space radiation.