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NASA Selects 11 Space Biology Research Projects for Future Lunar Exploration Missions

By  //  November 26, 2023

$2.3M will be awarded in fiscal years 2024-2027 when fully implemented

NASA announces the award of eleven grants or cooperative agreements for exciting new Space Biology research that will advance NASA’s understanding of how exposure to lunar dust/regolith impacts both plant and animal systems. (NASA image)

(NASA) – NASA announces the award of eleven grants or cooperative agreements for exciting new Space Biology research that will advance NASA’s understanding of how exposure to lunar dust/regolith impacts both plant and animal systems.

As human exploration prepares to go beyond Earth Orbit, Space Biology is advancing its research priorities toward work enabling organisms to Thrive In Deep Space (TIDES).

The ultimate goal of the TIDES initiative is to enable long-duration space missions and improve life on Earth through innovative research.

Space Biology-supported research will enable the study of the effects of environmental stressors in spaceflight on model organisms, which will both inform future fundamental research and provide valuable information that will better enable human exploration of deep space.

Proposals for these eleven projects were submitted in response to ROSES-2022 Program Element E.9 “Space Biology Research Studies” (NNH22ZDA001N-SBR).

This funding opportunity solicited ground studies using plant or animal models (or their associated microbes) to characterize the responses of these organisms to lunar regolith simulant similar to that found at NASA candidate landing sites for future lunar exploration missions.

This funding opportunity represents a collaboration between the Space Biology Program and NASA’s Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division within the Exploration Architecture, Integration, and Science (EAIS) Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center, who will be supplying the lunar regolith simulant required for these studies.

Eleven investigators will conduct these Space Biology investigations from ten institutions in nine states. Eight of these awards are to investigators new to the Space Biology Program.

Approximately $2.3 million will be awarded in fiscal years 2024-2027 when fully implemented.

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