  The majority of nuclear reactions in astrophysics involve unstable nuclei
which are not fully accessible by experiments yet. Therefore, there is high
demand for reliable predictions of cross sections and reaction rates by
theoretical means. The majority of reactions can be treated in the framework of
the statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach). The global parametrizations of the
nuclear properties needed for predictions far off stability probe our
understanding of the strong force and take it to its limit.
  The sensitivity of astrophysical scenarios to nuclear inputs is illustrated
in the framework of a detailed nucleosynthesis study in type II supernovae.
Abundances resulting from calculations in the same explosion model with two
different sets of reaction rates are compared. Key reactions and required
nuclear information are identified.
