Nasa along with the Baylor College of Medicine is planning to operate a new institute in order to conduct research and develop new ways to reduce risks to humans on long-duration deep space missions, including the agency’s proposed journey to Mars.

The research will be carried out under the Translational Research Institute Cooperative Agreement, which has been supervised by Nasa’s Human Research Programme and will be effective from October this year.

The contract, valued at around $246m, has a six-year performance period and one additional six-year period that could extend until September 2028.

Under the agreement, Nasa Translational Research Institute (NTRI) will employ a bench-to-spaceflight model, moving results or methods from laboratory experiments or clinical trials to point-of-care astronaut health and performance applications.

The research aims to develop new approaches, treatments, countermeasures or technologies with practical application to spaceflight.

Nasa space life and physical sciences research and applications director Marshall Porterfield said: “It’s fitting on the 47th anniversary of humanity’s first moon landing that we’re announcing a new human spaceflight research institute that will help reduce risks for our astronauts on the next giant leap, our journey to Mars.”

The space agency noted that translational research can help move solutions into practical application faster than traditional research approaches.

"We’re announcing a new human spaceflight research institute that will help reduce risks for our astronauts on the next giant leap, our journey to Mars."

The newly found institute will also allow scientists to have experience in research laboratories, both internal and external to Nasa, as well as use their knowledge and expertise to decrease human exploration health and performance risks.

US’ California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are also involved in the research.

Service works under the new institute will be performed at the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute in Houston, US.

Image: Nasa astronaut Karen Nyberg uses a fundoscope to image her eye while aboard the International Space Station. Photo: courtesy of NASA.