THE NATURE OF SCIENCE RESEARCH AT MSFC RELIES ON SMALL, FOCUSED INTERDISCIPLINARY AND CROSS CUTTING TEAMS IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THE RESEARCH GOALS AND MEET CUSTOMER NEEDS. USRA HAS VAST EXPERIENCE WORKING INTERCHANGEABLY WITH MSFC RESEARCHERS SO THAT THEY ARE TRUSTED AGENTS TO DEVELOP TOOLS, GENERATE AND MODEL DATA, DOCUMENT AND PRESENT OR PUBLISH RESULTS. MSFC HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS IN THE CURRENT RESEARCH TEAMS OVER SEVERAL YEARS IN ORDER TO COLLABORATIVELY ADVANCE THE RESEARCH GOALS. USRA PERSONNEL ARE OFTEN IDENTIFIED BY NAME ON AWARDED RESEARCH PROPOSALS AND IN SOME CASES MAY EVEN BE THE PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR. USRA POSSESSES UNIQUE CAPABILITIES FOR REACHBACK WITH OVER 100 UNIVERSITIES, PROVIDING QUICK ACCESS TO EXPERTS IN MANY AREAS WITHIN OUR RESEARCH FIELDS WHO COULD BE BROUGHT IN TO PROVIDE LIMITED AND FOCUSED SUPPORT. THE VAST EXPANSE OF UNIVERSITIES ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL BE ACCESSED STRATEGICALLY TO GAIN DIRECT ACCESS TO WORLDWIDE LEADERS IN TECHNICAL AREAS, ACCESS TO TEST EQUIPMENT, DATA OR COLLABORATION ON FURTHERING SCIENTIFIC GOALS.