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The Senate Speaks Clearly on The Value of a Fully Functional ISS

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
September 30, 2005

Congressional Record Excerpt: NASA Authorization Act of 2005 – Senate – September 28, 2005

“Sen. Hutchison: To accomplish this, the legislation designates the U.S. segment of the International Space Station as national laboratory facility. It further directs the NASA Administrator to develop a plan, within one year after enactment of the bill, to establish a ground-based national laboratory structure that will be responsible for maintaining and operating the research capabilities in the on-orbit laboratory facilities.”

“Sen. Nelson: This NASA authorization bill calls for utilization of the International Space Station for basic science as well as exploration science. It is important that we reap the benefits of our multi-billion dollar investment in the Space Station. The promise of some basic science research requires a micro-gravity or a space environment for us to better understand the problem that we are trying to solve. This bill ensures that NASA will maintain a focus on the importance of basic science.”

SEC. 202. RESEARCH AND SUPPORT CAPABILITIES ON INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.–The Administrator shall–

(1) within 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, provide an assessment of biomedical and life science research planned for implementation aboard the ISS that includes the identification of research which can be performed in ground-based facilities and then, if appropriate, validated in space to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Science;

(2) ensure the capacity to support ground-based research leading to spaceflight of scientific research in a variety of disciplines with potential direct national benefits and applications that can advance significantly from the uniqueness of micro-gravity;

(3) restore and protect such potential ISS research activities as molecular crystal growth, animal research, basic fluid physics, combustion research, cellular biotechnology, low temperature physics, and cellular research at a level which will sustain the existing scientific expertise and research capabilities until such time as additional funding or resources from sources other than NASA can be identified to support these activities within the framework of the National Laboratory provided for in section 203 of this Act; and

(4) within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, develop a research plan that will demonstrate the process by which NASA will evolve the ISS research portfolio in a manner consistent with the planned growth and evolution of ISS on-orbit and transportation capabilities.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.