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Overview: |
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NASA's Physical Sciences Research Program, along with
its predecessors, has conducted significant fundamental and applied
research, which has led to improved space systems and produced new products
offering benefits on Earth. NASA's experiments in the various disciplines
of physical science, reveal how physical systems respond to the near
absence of gravity. They also reveal how other forces that on Earth
are small compared to gravity, can dominate system behavior in space.
The International Space Station (ISS) is an orbiting laboratory that
provides an ideal facility to conduct long-duration experiments in the
near absence of gravity and allows continuous and interactive research
similar to Earth-based laboratories. This enables scientists to pursue
innovations and discoveries not currently achievable by other means.
NASA's Physical Sciences Research Program also benefits from collaborations
with several of the ISS international partners—Europe, Russia,
Japan, and Canada—and foreign governments with space programs,
such as France, Germany and Italy. The scale of this research enterprise
promises new possibilities in the physical sciences, some of which are
already being realized both in the form of innovations for space exploration
and in new ways to improve the quality of life on Earth. |
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Research Areas: |
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Fluid Physics: two-phase flow,
phase change, boiling, condensation and capillary and interfacial phenomena |
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Materials Science: solidification
in metal and alloys, crystal growth, electronic materials, glasses and
ceramics |
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Combustion Science: spacecraft
fire safety, solids, liquids and gasses, supercritical reacting fluids,
and soot formation |
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Complex Fluids: colloidal systems,
liquid crystals, polymer flows, foams and granular flows |
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Fundamental Physics: critical point
phenomena, atom interferometry and atomic clocks in space. |
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Implementing Centers: |
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NASA’s Physical Sciences Research
Program is carried out at the Glenn Research Center (GRC), Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). |
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Heritage: |
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ISS
Research Project 2006-2011 |
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Advanced Life Support
- Life Support and Habitation Program 2004-2006 |
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Office
of Biological and Physical Research Program 1998-2004 |
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Microgravity Research
Program 1984-1998 |
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