Current Research Overview

Fundamental Space Biology (FSB) is NASA's program for the study of fundamental biological processes through space flight and ground-based research conducted by scientists at universities around the country and at NASA Centers. By bringing together state-of-the-art Science and Technology, the program seeks to answer the most basic questions regarding the evolution, development, and function of living systems.

FSB seeks to learn how the space environment (with altered gravity, magnetic fields, and radiation) affects living systems by studying various species from microorganisms to plants to animals. The science sponsored by FSB also probes how a biological system detects the space environmental forces and how various levels of biological process are affected. Space is the ultimate target for most of the science sponsored by FSB, but the program also sponsors extensive ground-based and flight simulation research to help ensure that space flight experiments are scientifically and operationally valid.

Space Flight Experiments

Space flight allows Fundamental Space Biology (FSB) to conduct research in the microgravity environment of Earth-orbiting spacecraft. The International Space Station (ISS) allows biology experiments to be conducted in microgravity over extended durations, and the Space Shuttle, FSB's most used flight platform, provides access to orbit for periods of up to three weeks. Visit Space Flight Experiments for articles about FSB space flight experiments.

To conduct experiments in space, specialized research equipment must be developed. This equipment is referred to as "flight hardware", and specialized habitats exist for plants, cell cultures, eggs, aquatics, research animals, etc. New space flight hardware is being developed specifically for long-term installation on the ISS. Visit Space Biology Hardware for articles about new flight hardware in development.

Resources

Visit General Readings and Archives for more about the similarities between aging and spaceflight, space exercise, the origin of life, sensors development and other topics. This collection of articles was previously released under the title "Essentials of Biology".