Other technologies and applied sciences

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is one of the largest examples of U.

Since the beginning of space flight, the collision hazard in Earth orbit has increased as the number of artificial objects orbiting the Earth has grown.

To begin implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration (recently renamed United States Space Exploration Policy), NASA has begun development of new launch vehicles and a human-carrying spacecraft that are collectively called the Constellation System.

To meet the objectives of the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), NASA must develop a wide array of enabling technologies.

ITAR, which controls defense trade, includes the U.

Principal Investigator-Led (PI-led) missions are an important element of NASA's spacescience enterprise.

The Space Studies Board of the National Research Council (NRC) serves as the primary adviser to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary protection policy, the purpose of which is to preserve conditions for future biological and organic exploration of planets and other solar system objects and to protect Earth and its biosphere from potential extraterrestrial sources of contamination.

For the past three decades, it has been possible to measure the earth's static gravity from satellites.

Advanced Technology for Human Support in Space was written in response to a request from NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications (OLMSA) to evaluate its Advanced Human Support Technology Program.

This book documents electric power requirements for the dismounted soldier on future Army battlefields, describes advanced energy concepts, and provides an integrated assessment of technologies likely to affect limitations and needs in the future.

The cornerstone of chemical and biological defense strategy is protection (i.

Technology has propelled the atmospheric sciences from a fledgling discipline to a global enterprise.

During 1988, the National Research Council's Space Science Board reorganized itself to more effectively address NASA's advisory needs.

Comets and asteroids are in some sense the fossils of the solar system.

The U.

Extending the life of an airframe has proven challenging and costly.

One of the highest-priority activities in the planetary sciences identified in published reports of the Space Studies Board's Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) and in reports of other advisory groups is the collection and return of extraterrestrial samples to Earth for study in terrestrial laboratories.

The safety of the nation's drinking water must be maintained to ensure the health of the public.

Ignition of upholstered furniture by small open flames from matches, cigarette lighters, and candles is one of the leading causes of residential-fire deaths in the United States.

Network-Centric Naval Forces: A Transition Strategy for Enhancing Operational Capabilities is a study to advise the Department of the Navy regarding its transition strategy to achieve a network-centric naval force through technology application.

This workshop report examines the capability of the forecast system to efficiently transfer weather and climate research findings into improved operational forecast capabilities.

The 1998 Committee on Space Biology and Medicine (CSBM) report A Strategy for Research in Space Biology and Medicine in the New Century assessed the known and potential effects of spaceflight on biological systems in general and on human physiology, behavior, and performance in particular, and recommended directions for research sponsored over the next decade by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Currently, the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Commerce (DOC) acquire and operate separate polarorbiting environmental satellite systems that collect data needed for military and civil weather forecasting.

Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Science identifies areas of high-priority research within the purview of the Earth Science Division of the National Science Foundation, assesses cross-disciplinary connections, and discusses the linkages between basic research and societal needs.

The frontier represented by the near solar system confronts humanity with intriguing challenges and opportunities.

Rapid progress in information and communications technologies is dramatically enhancing the strategic role of information, positioning effective exploitation of these technology advances as a critical success factor in military affairs.

The granting of offsets to promote exports of major aircraft systems has been a source of significant controversy.

Effective science, clearly a mandate for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), involves asking significant questions about the physical and biological world and seeking definitive answers.

Some 600 pipe bomb explosions have occurred annually in the United States during the past several years.

Construction of the international space station, scheduled to start in late 1998, ushers in a new era for laboratory sciences in space.

In March 2000, NASA's Office of Space Flight asked the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council to perform an independent assessment of the space solar power program's technology investment strategy to determine its technical soundness and its contribution to the roadmap that NASA has developed for this program.

This report evaluates the Defense Threat Reduction Agency prior and present sponsored efforts; assess the present state of the art in thermionic energy conversion systems; assess the technical challenges to the development of viable thermionic energy conversion systems for both space and terrestrial applications; and recommend a prioritized set of objectives for a future research and development program for advanced thermionic systems for space and terrestrial applications.

A workshop to assess the science and technology of life detection techniques was organized by the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life (COEL) of the Board on Life Sciences (BLS) and the Space Studies Board (SSB).

In 1986, the FFC requested that the NRC appoint a committee to examine the field and propose ways by which the POE process could be improved to better serve public and private sector organizations.

This study, commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), examines the role of robotic exploration missions in assessing the risks to the first human missions to Mars.

The past decade has seen a remarkable revolution in genomic research, the discoveries of extreme environments in which organisms can live and even flourish on Earth, the identification of past and possibly present liquid-water environments in our solar system, and the detection of planets around other stars.

The technical, scientific, policy, and institutional environment for conducting Earth science research has been changing rapidly over the past few decades.

The report reviews NASA's solid-earth science strategy, placing particular emphasis on observational strategies for measuring surface deformation, high-resolution topography, surface properties, and the variability of the earth's magnetic and gravity fields.

In February 2004, the President announced a new goal for NASA; to use humans and robots together to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

The Department of Defense is in the process of transforming the nation'sarmed forces to meet the military challenges of the 21st century.

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has operated continuously since 1990.

The system of satellites in place to provide environmental data-data to monitor events such as forest fires and floods; to make weather predictions; and to assess crops, transportation impacts, fisheries, land-use patterns, sea temperature, and soil moisture, among other things- serves a wide and growing array of users.

Extending the spatial and temporal boundaries of human space flight are important goals for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), yet human space flight remains an endeavor with substantial risks.

This volume includes 14 papers from the National Academy of Engineering's Tenth Annual U.

This volume, The Sun to the Earth-and Beyond: Panel Reports, is a compilation of the reports from five National Research Council (NRC) panels convened as part of a survey in solar and space physics for the period 2003-2013.

As part of its ongoing commitment to the nation's space program, NASA's medical leadership asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to review specific aspects of the scientific basis, policies, and procedures associated with the Longitudinal Study of Astronaut Health (LSAH).

Principal-investigator (PI) Earth science missions are small, focused science projects involving relatively small spacecraft.

Safe Passage: Astronaut Care for Exploration Missions sets forth a vision for space medicine as it applies to deep space voyage.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) contracted with the Naval Studies Board (NSB) of the National Research Council (NRC) to establish a committee to review ONR's Air and Surface Weapons Technology (ASWT) program.

Knowledge of time is essential to precise knowledge of location, and for this reason the Navy, with its need to navigate on the high seas, has historically played an important role in the development and application of advanced time realization and dissemination technologies.