Skip to main content Missions Search All NASA MissionsA to Z List of MissionsUpcoming Launches and LandingsSpaceships and RocketsCommunicating with MissionsArtemisJames Webb Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeInternational Space StationOSIRIS-RExHumans in Space Why Go to SpaceAstronautsCommercial SpaceDestinationsSpaceships and RocketsLiving in SpaceEarth & Climate Explore Earth ScienceClimate ChangeEarth, Our PlanetEarth Science in ActionEarth MultimediaEarth DataEarth Science ResearchersAbout NASA NASA's ImpactsCenters and FacilitiesDirectoratesOrganizationsPeople of NASACareersInternshipsOur HistoryDoing Business with NASAGet InvolvedContactLearning Resources For Kids and StudentsFor EducatorsFor Colleges and UniversitiesFor ProfessionalsScience for EveryoneSpace Samples for LearningRequest an Exhibit or SpeakerSTEM Engagement at NASAAeronautics Science in the AirNASA AircraftFlight InnovationSupersonic FlightAir Traffic SolutionsGreen Aviation TechDrones & YouTechnology Technology Transfer & SpinoffsSpace Travel TechnologyTechnology Living in SpaceManufacturing and MaterialsRoboticsScience InstrumentsComputingThe Universe ExoplanetsThe Search for Life in the UniverseStarsGalaxiesBlack HolesThe Big BangDark Matter & Dark EnergyThe Solar System The SunMercuryVenusEarthThe MoonMarsJupiterSaturnUranusNeptunePluto & Dwarf PlanetsAsteroids, Comets & MeteorsThe Kuiper BeltThe Oort CloudSkywatchingEspañol CienciaAeronáuticaCiencias TerrestresSistema SolarUniversoScience All NASA ScienceEarth SciencePlanetary ScienceAstrophysics & Space ScienceThe Sun & HeliophysicsBiological & Physical SciencesLunar ScienceCitizen ScienceAstromaterialsAeronautics ResearchHuman Space Travel Research ExploreSearchSubmitNews & EventsMultimediaNASA+
 OverviewAboutDecadal SurveyInvestigationsMissionsOrganizationPartnershipsAdvisory CommitteeAmes Research CenterGlenn Research CenterMarshall Space Flight CenterJet Propulsion LabJohnson Space CenterKennedy Space CenterProgramsPrograms OverviewSpace Biology ProgramPhysical Sciences ProgramCommercialFundamental PhysicsOpen ScienceResourcesNews & MediaExplainers & InfographicsEventsSolicitationsContact UsSocial MediaDocumentsScience DigestEducation & OpportunitiesExplore This SectionOverviewProgramsResourcesBiological & Physical SciencesNASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences mission is to lead the world in fundamental space-based research, pioneer transformational discoveries, enable sustained human space exploration, and improve life on Earth and in space.An artist’s concept – composed of cool blues and greens with orange accent colors – depicting a plain clothed female astronaut reading a tablet while floating in front of the cupola window on the International Space Station. Biological and Physical Science experiments surround the left side of the window. A strand of DNA provides a lattice for green plants, yellow mustard flowers, red peppers, and orange Zinnia flowers to grow. Glowing molecules and atoms float around the lattice. The Earth (left) and Moon (right) are visible outside the window. A small red star, representing Mars seen at center. The window provides a spherical frame for the composition, fading to black at the edges.NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) uses the spaceflight environment to study phenomena in ways that cannot be done on Earth.In 2020, NASA transferred administrative oversight of NASA’s biological and physical sciences research from the Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications (SLPSRA) Division in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate into the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), a NASA directorate organization that pursues outstanding science and understands its potential application to future exploration missions.The vision for BPS, in keeping with the NASA Strategic Plan and Decadal Survey, is: We lead the space life and physical sciences research community to enable space exploration and benefit life on Earth.The mission of BPS is two-pronged:Pioneer scientific discovery in and beyond low Earth orbit to drive advances in science, technology, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, and economic vitalityEnable human spaceflight exploration to expand the frontiers of knowledge, capability, and opportunity in spaceExecution of this mission requires both scientific research and technology development.NASA’s Initial Response to the 2023-2032 Decadal SurveyBPS administers NASA’s:**Space Biology Program**, which solicits and conducts research to use the space environment to advance our knowledge of how gravity affects the design and function of living organisms, and to understand how biological systems accommodate to spaceflight environments.**Physical Sciences Program**, which solicits and conducts research using the space environment as a tool to provide transformational insights in physics and engineering science, and to understand how physical systems respond to spaceflight environments, particularly weightlessness and the partial gravity of planetary bodies.**Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science project (CERISS)**, which will develop transformative research capabilities with commercial space industry to dramatically increase the pace of research.BPS partners with the research community and a wide range of organizations to accomplish its mission. Grants to academic, commercial, and government laboratories are the core of BPS’s research and technology development efforts. All BPS solicitations are issued through NSPIRES and all awards are described and results tracked in the  Task Book: Biological and Physical Sciences Division and Human Research Program. Partnerships with other NASA organizations, other government agencies, industry and international partners provide access to a broad range of experimental platforms, involvement of a diverse set of experts, and translation of results to a wide community.BPS research and technology development is conducted on a wide range of experimental platforms including ground-based analogs for spaceflight, drop towers and aircraft that provide seconds of weightlessness, to free-flyer satellites. The International Space Station (ISS) is a critically important United States facility that provides researchers the ability to conduct long-duration experiments in low Earth orbit. ISS allows continuous and interactive research similar to Earth-based laboratories, enabling scientists to pursue innovations and discoveries not currently achievable by other means. BPS is also planning research and technology development to enable human spaceflight and scientific discovery beyond low Earth orbit.BPS strives for broad involvement of the research and technology development communities in the formulation and dissemination of its work. BPS typically solicits for teams of investigators for spaceflight investigations to maximize the scientific benefit derived from the experiments. BPS also emphasizes the importance of archiving data, metadata, computational tools, and samples after spaceflight experiments to enable future experiments. The NASA Open Science Data Repository (which combines both GeneLab and the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive) and the Physical Sciences Informatics database are the principal repositories.What We StudyInvestigationsWhat We Study**Space Biology Overview**The main objective of Space Biology research is to build a better understanding of how spaceflight affects living systems in spacecraft such as the International Space Station (ISS), or in ground-based experiments, and to prepare for future human exploration missions far from Earth.**Physical Sciences Overview**The Physical Science Research Program makes contributions in two distinct areas: fundamental research, which investigates physical phenomena in the absence of gravity and fundamental laws of the universe, and second, applied research, which contributes to the basic understanding underlying space exploration technologies.Read MoreGraphic of Earth, Moon and Mars, showing various platform icons associated with each.InvestigationsCurrent InvestigationsStudying biological and physical phenomena in extreme environments enables researchers to pursue innovations and discoveries in ways not possible on Earth.Read MoreIn the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, QinetiQ North America Project Manager Carole Miller, left, works with Allison Caron, a QinetiQ mechanical engineer in preparing the Biotube MICRO study.NASA/Kim ShiflettBiological and Physical Sciences StoriesExplore All Biological & Physical Sciences StoriesArticle3 min readResearchers Develop ‘Founding Document’ on Synthetic Cell DevelopmentArticle3 min readInternational Space Station welcomes biological and physical science experiments3 min readCompact Robot Takes Flight to Support CERISS InitiativeArticle2 months agoA grey space vehicle consisting of several attached sections; purple solar panels protrude from several of the sections.10 min readZero-Boil-Off Tank Experiments to Enable Long-Duration Space ExplorationArticle2 months agoEvent advertisement Join the next Do NASA Science LIVE event as we explore ways to participate in NASA’s winter-themed volunteer research projects. Register here for this event on February 21st at 7pm ET. (credit: SciStarter)2 min readDo NASA Science LIVE on February 21! What’s it mean to be cool?Article3 months agoDownloadsBPS Overview(1.06 MB)Featured StoryBalloons Offer Near-Space Access for Space Biology ResearchersBalloons are often associated with meteorological studies—gauging weather conditions such as temperature, pressure and humidity in the Earth’s atmosphere. But...Read the StoryStratosphere View
 Return to topNASA LogoThe National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.About NASA's MissionJoin UsHomeNews & EventsMultimediaNASA+MissionsHumans in SpaceEarth & ClimateThe Solar SystemThe UniverseScienceAeronauticsTechnologyLearning ResourcesAbout NASANASA en EspañolFollow NASAMore NASA Social AccountsNASA NewslettersSitemapFor MediaPrivacy PolicyFOIANo FEAR ActOffice of the IGBudget & Annual ReportsAgency Financial ReportsContact NASAAccessibilityPage Last Updated:last weekPage Editor:SMD Content EditorsResponsible NASA Official for Science:Dana Bolles