Conceptual Planning for Space Station Life Sciences Human Research Project

The goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Life Sciences program for the Space Station era are to maintain crew health and productivity for long-duration missions and to support basic scientific research. To accomplish this, a dedicated research laboratory, known as the Life Sciences Research Facility is being defined. This facility is divided into two areas, the Human and the Biological Research Projects. This paper presents the current planning for outfitting the Human Research Project portion of the Life Sciences Research Facility and a representative scenario of the Life Sciences requirements. It is emphasized that the scenario will be updated as the Space Station Program requirements evolve. These initial planning activities and the representative scenarios will form the foundation for the Life Sciences space research program for the next quarter century. Currently these efforts are focused on ensuring Life Sciences accommodations within the Space Station during the Initial Operating Configuration stage.