Future prospects for space life sciences from a NASA perspective

As the U.S. Space Program lifted off the ground again on September 29, 1988, along with it came the return of scientific possibilities for the U.S. space science community. The end of that mission, STS-26, marked a new beginning for NASA. The success of STS-26 was critical to the dreams and careers of many people. Many of those dreams had been put on hold and, in fact, were fading as the U.S. watched the rest of the world move ahead rapidly with attempts to gain access to the limited and precious laboratory of space.