Making Better Use of an Orbital Outpost

Critics doubt value of International Space Station science, Orlando Sentinel

"The old adage is that if you build it, they will come," said Keith Cowing, a former NASA space station payload manager who runs the popular website NASA Watch. "Well, it's there, but NASA has a lot of catching up to do in terms of fully utilizing the capability of the space station."

"... Another way NASA has tried to better use the station was hiring a nonprofit group in 2011 to manage the part of the station designated as a U.S. national laboratory and to entice non-NASA researchers to do their work there. But the Florida-based group -- the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, or CASIS -- had early management problems and was able to get its first sponsored payload onboard the station just this month."

- CASIS Defines Bedtime Stories on ISS as "Major Payload", earlier post
- CASIS Is Clueless, earlier post