NASA continues to work on decadal survey of biological and physical sciences

WASHINGTON NASA is continuing to refine its response to the Decadal Survey of Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, balancing ambitious science goals with a limited budget.

The decennial survey, released in September, identified 11 key science questions across three themes: adapting to space, space life and travel, and exploring phenomena hidden by gravity or terrestrial confinement. It also identifies two specific major research activities conducted by NASA in these research areas.

Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) division, said in a recent interview that the agency is working to analyze and respond to the recommendations in the decadal survey. This includes an ongoing roadmap approach linking projects to key scientific questions.

This will help us strategize behind our content over the decade and allow us to more clearly communicate to Congress and stakeholders inside and outside NASA the rationale for why we do the science we do, she said.

She noted that ongoing research supported by the BPS has addressed many of the key scientific questions identified in the Decadal Survey. In the short term, she said, these are quick wins. We will continue to build on this foundation.

Carnell said it would take longer for NASA to attempt two of the decade’s proposed research activities: Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BliSS) and Materials and Processes for Sustainable Manufacturing in Space (MATRICES). She compared these activities, which have a total cost of billions of dollars, to flagship missions from other parts of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

‘I’m trying to find some intermediate goals that serve as stepping stones to these larger activities,’ she said.

These efforts are further complicated by the fact that NASA’s BPS budget is approximately $85 million per year. One of the main recommendations of the decennial survey is for NASA to increase its budget by 10 times, which the report believes would return funding to historical levels of the 1990s.

She said of the budget proposal it had generated the most discussion in a decade. Meanwhile, NASA as a whole, and its Science Directorate in particular, is grappling with budget caps that limit plans to increase spending.

To achieve this, Carnell said the BPS budget would need to increase by 30% annually over a decade. She said she would advocate for a budget increase while maintaining realistic expectations for what the department can achieve. 10x growth is probably very optimistic at best. If we can get half that, it’s a win for BPS.

She said the proposed budget increase is still relevant, even if it’s not achievable in the current fiscal climate. “I think when you have the science and the data and everything to back it up, setting a substantive goal like this, which is to grow 10 times, is fine,” she said. And that’s what they did. They list the costs of performing such tasks and activities.

Another challenge NASA faces as it implements the 10-year plan is the transition from the International Space Station, where BPS conducts most of its research, to a future commercial space station that NASA calls Commercial Low-Earth Orbital Destinations (CLDs). At the same time, the agency hopes to increase research related to human missions to the moon and Mars.

Carnell said we need to find a balance in our strategy that allows us to sustain microgravity research while still moving toward our exploration goals and objectives.

She noted that her department is working closely with NASA’s CLD program to ensure that the requirements set by the program for commercial stations support the department’s research priorities. I think we will be one of the major users of these platforms in the beginning.

The decennial survey suggests that some of the 11 critical science questions it identified may be obsolete over the next decade, survey co-chairs Rob Ferl of the University of Florida and Krystyn Van Vliet of Cornell University told the Journal in March. Report submitted to the Committee of the National Academy of Sciences.

Carnell said that’s difficult to do for reasons other than just budget. Science really never ends, right? She said the strategy the department was developing to deal with the 10-year strategy would try to address the issue. When do we feel we are done? That doesn’t mean there’s not more science to be done, but perhaps, investing in the science of the future requires us to start paying attention to deep space.

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