NASA and NIH Partner for Health Researc...( WASHINGTON Sept. 12 -- A Sept. 1...),Health

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Sept. 12 signing of a memorandum of understanding marked a key milestone for NASA and the National Institutes of Health in their long partnership to advance scientific discovery. The two agencies entered into an agreement that helps American scientists use the International Space Station to answer questions about human health and diseases. The pact signals to researchers the availability of a remarkable platform on which to conduct experiments.

"The congressional designation as a national laboratory underscores the significance the American people place on the scientific potential of the space station," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin explained. "Not only will the station help in our efforts to explore the moon, Mars and beyond, its resources also can be applied for a much broader purpose - improving human health."

NASA sent Congress a plan in May describing how the U.S. segment of the International Space Station can be used as a national laboratory. The report outlines possible partnerships with other government agencies and private companies to conduct research aboard the station. The signing marks the first such agreement between NASA and another agency.

"I am extremely pleased that this collaborative effort is moving forward," NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni said. "The station provides a unique environment where researchers can explore fundamental questions about human health issues -- including how the human body heals itself, fights infection or develops diseases such as cancer or osteoporosis."

Compared with the Earth-bound laboratories where more than 325,000 NIH- funded researchers conduct experiments every day, the facility at the station provides a virtually gravity-free environment where the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie human diseases can be explored. For example:

-- Since the beginning of the space program, researchers have known that prolonged pe
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