Report: Strategies, Research Priorities, and Challenges for the Exploration of Space Beyond Low Earth Orbit

The Beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Instrumentation & Science Series Science Working Group (BLISS-SWG) was established in December 2020 to provide NASA’s Space Biology Program with sustained input from a group of subject matter experts from the space biosciences community.

The Science Working Group provides expertise to NASA for developing research priorities and tools for exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit.

An abridged summary of the annual report of the BLISS Science Working Group was recently published and is now publicly available online in the Gravitational and Space Research journal.

This report covers NASA’s recent emphasis on human exploration of the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. This will necessitate a transition from a focus of its research in the biological sciences from Low Earth Orbit to platforms beyond LEO. Fundamental research questions remain about how to enable humans to thrive in deep space.

Work beyond low Earth orbit will necessitate a shift in technology development and the need to develop autonomous experiments, especially in the near term. Seven priority areas and pertinent research questions were identified for research beyond LEO in the coming two-to-five years.

This first annual report summarizes appropriate experimental organisms and technology development needs for research to address these questions.

Astrobiology, space biology