Page 76 - International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.

Managing the International Space Station
National Lab
The 2005 NASA Authorization Act designated the U.S The focus of ISS National
segment of the ISS as a national laboratory and the Laboratory is on advancing U.S.
2010 Authorization Act directed NASA to develop a plan leadership in commercial space
to “increase the utilization of the ISS by other Federal
entities and the private sector…” In 2011, NASA and positively impacting American
partnered with an independent organization— with taxpayers by building demand and
the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space
(CASIS)—to run the ISS National Laboratory. The focus facilitating investment in activities
of the ISS National Laboratory is on advancing U.S. onboard the ISS.
leadership in commercial space and positively impacting
American taxpayers by building demand and facilitating
investment in activities onboard the ISS.
The ISS National Laboratory is able to utilize 50% of to be carried out onboard the ISS; of these,
the resources that NASA has rights to for commercial
and private research. Thus, factors considered in approximately 56% were commercially sponsored,
filling out the portfolio of activities supported include: 42% were academic/nonprofit-sponsored, and only
2% were government-sponsored. In 2017 alone,
supporting research and technology development (R&D)
across multiple sectors and disciplines; encouraging 45 new projects were selected from more than
100 proposals. Of those selected, 70% represented
nontraditional space research participants; and
optimizing the potential impacts of R&D activities. “new-to-space” customers. According to their 2017
In determining the potential benefits, factors such Annual Report, the overall portfolio of ISS National
Laboratory activities has an addressable potential
as the estimated addressable market for potential
products or services based on the R&D activities market of more than $110 billion.
are considered as part of the selection process. The goals of commercially sponsored research onboard
the ISS are many and varied. For example, Indiana-
The ISS National Laboratory has been successful based Delta Faucet is set to begin a series of research
in attracting Fortune 100 companies such as Proctor
& Gamble, Eli Lilly and Honeywell International to use investigations in the fall of 2018. Delta Faucet is
developing shower heads that use a special “oscillating
the ISS platform for R&D in fields important to their
competitive differentiation. Between 2012 and 2017, chip” to break up the water into bigger droplets and
fling it out faster, thereby creating the feeling of more
the ISS National Laboratory selected 190 investigations

Image credit: ISS U.S. National Laboratory

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