NASA Summer School Students Explore How to Protect Against Health Risks in Space Travel

Childhood dreams and mentor encouragement, paired with scientific expertise in areas ranging from biology to physics, have united an elite group of students and scientists from around the world who will participate in the fifth annual NASA Space Radiation Summer School at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. The group will work in Brookhaven Lab's Medical Department and NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) -- a unique
facility that simulates the harsh radiation environment of outer space -- to study ways to protect against possible risks astronauts may face during future long-term space flights. The three-week course will be held May 28 to June 20. Fifty-eight students have participated in the program to date.

As NASA gears up for an outpost on the Moon, plans for exploration of near-Earth asteroids, and prepares for a mission to Mars, many potential health risks to human space travelers remain unknown. It is vitally important to learn how astronauts will be affected by deep-space radiation and how to best protect them from harm. To tackle these challenges and help make space travel as safe as possible, the NASA Summer Program provides an opportunity for top graduate
students and post-doctoral fellows from various scientific backgrounds, as well as scientists trained in the discipline of space radiobiology, to work together.

"The radiation environment in space contains numerous types of charged particles of high energies, and the NSRL enables researchers to perform studies here on earth to examine the biological effects of exposure to these charged particles," says Peter Guida, Medical Department Liaison Scientist for this program at Brookhaven Lab. "This type of research is essential to help determine the possible risks that space travelers may encounter."

Fifteen graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and working scientists, along with two auditing professionals, are participating in this year's summer school. The program has three scientific modules: physics/dosimetry (led by Lawrence Heilbronn of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), cell-molecular-animal biology (led by Gregory Nelson of Loma Linda University Medical Center), and experimental methods (led by Betsy Sutherland of Brookhaven Lab). The program is sponsored by NASA and organized and managed by Brookhaven Lab, Loma Linda, and Universities Space Research Association (a consortium of universities, research
organizations, and governmental groups involved in space research).

"Our goal is to attract the highest quality students and fellows from diverse scientific backgrounds and help train them to be the next wave of space radiation researchers," says Eleanor Blakely of Lawrence Berkeley, 2008 NASA Summer School director.

The intensive, three-week course offers a unique physical and intellectual environment not duplicated in the nation's universities, medical schools, or research institutes. Students participate in both classroom activities and scientific experiments, working side-by-side with top space scientists from research organizations such as NASA, Brookhaven Lab, Lawrence Berkeley, Loma Linda University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, California
Institute of Technology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Experimental creativity and interdisciplinary approaches are emphasized.

Studies at NSRL simulate space radiation to learn how the intense rays may promote the development of cancer, as well as how this radiation can affect the central nervous system and other organ systems of the body. NSRL researchers are also looking at ways to protect
against these dangers through shielding and other strategies to minimize the risk to space travelers.

NSRL is a $34-million facility that was built by Brookhaven Lab with funding from NASA with the cooperation of the Office of Nuclear Physics within the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Operational since 2003, the facility is part of the lab's collider-accelerator complex, which is maintained by the DOE Office of Science's nuclear physics program and receives incremental operations and maintenance funding from NASA.

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Data-Driven Workforce Management Needed to Ensure NASA's Institutional Health

NASA is undergoing a fundamental mission shift that will require the agency to adopt aknowledge-based, data-driven strategy to better align its workforce, according to a National Academy of Public Administration report.

NASA is working to refocus many aeronautics and scientific programs, phase-out the Space Shuttle by 2010, and develop new vehicles to go to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This fundamental mission shift requires significant workforce changes. But, Congress has banned permanent workforce cuts at the space agency. And, NASA has sought to ensure that every field center has a place in the new programs with funding to cover existing civil servants. This has resulted in workforce misalignments.

With its heavy reliance on a multisector workforce of civil servants and contractors, NASA has an opportunity to be at the forefront of the public sector, proving that federal agencies can respond effectively to changing mission requirements, says Academy Fellow Sallyanne Harper, who chaired the panel overseeing the study. The panel has developed a package of practical tools to help NASA ensure it has the right people, in theright place, at the right time.

In its report, the panel urged NASA to realign its workforce by making maximum use of its existing human capital flexibilities and pursuing a package of new ones. It also recommended that NASA adopt a workforce management strategy to ensure a flexible, optimally sized, and appropriately skilled workforce.

Specifically, the panel called on NASA to:

• Assess field centers annually and take corrective action based on a comprehensive framework and metrics.
• Integrate acquisition and workforce planning at the highest levels of the agency.
• Use a formal decision process and metrics to determine the appropriate distribution of work between civil servants and contractors.
• Use a similar approach to determine the most appropriate type of appointment for civil service hires.
• Maximize existing authorities for recruiting and retaining the best and brightest employees, and sharing talent with other federal agencies and levels of government.
• Seek statutory and regulatory authorization for modified reduction-in-force rules, buyout changes, and limited emergency retirement reform to remedy skill imbalances.

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