Grants Total Some $14 Million Over Three To Four Years

NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) of Houston will fund 12 proposals to help investigate questions about astronaut health and performance on future space exploration missions. The selected proposals, representing 11 institutions in nine states, will receive approximately $14 million over a three-to-four year period.

HRP provides knowledge and technologies to improve human health and performance during space exploration and develops possible countermeasures for problems experienced during space travel. The program's goals are to help complete missions successfully and preserve astronauts' health throughout their lives. HRP quantifies crew health and performance risks during spaceflight and develops strategies that mission planners and system developers can use to monitor and mitigate them.

The 12 projects were selected from 85 proposals received in response to the research announcement "Research and Technology Development to Support Crew Health and Performance in Space Exploration Missions." Scientific and technical experts from academia and government reviewed the proposals. Ten of the projects will have NASA principal investigators while two will be managed by NSBRI.

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.

FMI: http://1.usa.gov/kn4EXG, http://humanresearch.jsc.nasa.gov