NASA Benefits

Generations will benefit NASA and advance its research and exploration goals.

The benefits will include:

• Determining the molecular basis for life's adaptation to space
• Discovering the extent to which life on Earth is planetbound
• Characterizing the barriers and opportunities in living beyond Earth
• Deep space biology studies that enable human expeditions beyond Low Earth Orbit by investigating the combined effects of zero gravity and space radiation.

Public Benefits

Through Generations, scientists will examine the organisms most widely used in biotechnology over complete life cycles in space. In the process, the important relationships between medical problems of space flight and problems of aging on Earth will be fully characterized. Generations will also explore biological responses to unique features of the space environment. These results are expected to offer strategies for use on Earth to combat infections, develop vaccines, improve tissue engineering, and reduce polluting waste products from plant-based processes.

An independent assessment of the societal value of several R&D activities associated with the Generations Initiative was conducted by Toffler Associates. A summary of results presents synopses of three case studies and the background behind the assessment. Each case study is also presented in viewgraph format.
Download the summary.
Download case studies: Bacterial Infectivity, Kidney Health, Technological Advances.