CASIS and NASA Ignore Each Other as NSF Announcement Made

CASIS and NSF Announce Joint Solicitation in Fluid Dynamics on International Space Station
“The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced a joint solicitation wherein researchers from the fluid dynamics community will have the ability to leverage resources onboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory. Up to $1.8 million will be awarded for multiple research investigations to support flight projects to the ISS National Laboratory. Through this partnership, CASIS will facilitate hardware implementation and on-orbit access to the ISS National Laboratory. NSF will fund the selected projects to advance fundamental science and engineering knowledge. CASIS is the nonprofit organization responsible for managing and promoting research onboard the ISS National Laboratory. NSF supports transformative research to help drive the U.S. economy, enhance national security and maintain America’s position as a global leader in innovation.”
Keith’s note: First and foremost, this is good news – and interesting since NSF (another government agency) is putting money into ISS research. NSF is paying the bills here – CASIS only does the paper work. But still, new users are new users – the more the merrier. What is odd about this CASIS press release is that “NASA” is mentioned nowhere. Of course, CASIS is obsessed with their whole branding thing – but instead of building upon a world-wide brand like NASA’s, they just ignore it and grasp at straws to build their own identity.
More interesting (at least to me) is how a non-profit organization like CASIS can have a peer-to-peer interaction with a Federal Government agency – an agency that is on a par level with NASA – without NASA in the loop such that NASA does not even need to be mentioned. Indeed, NASA has not made any mention of this on its ISS National Labroratory website. Oddly, NSF makes no mention of this on their news page either. It is interesting news when another government agency signs on to the ISS. NASA’s overt omission points to dysfunction on both sides of the NASA/CASIS relationship.
– Are CASIS Funding “Commitments” Just Smoke and Mirrors?, earlier post
– Examining Staff and Board Member Salaries at CASIS, earlier post
– CASIS Has No Idea How To Raise Money – Only How To Spend It, earlier post
– Trying To Understand CASIS Press and Social Media Impact, earlier post
– Previous CASIS posts