to complement physico-chemical life-support systems on future long-term space
missions (cf. Chap. 9).
Satellites provided research platforms to study the effects of space conditions,
mainly weightlessness and radiation, on living organisms. Encouraged by the
first results, in 1961 Jurij Gagarin became the first human astronaut flying
and surviving in low Earth orbit 300–400 km above the ground. Today, human
beings have been working and living in space well protected from the harsh
conditions of space—vacuum, extreme temperatures and high radiation exposure—in different kinds of return capsules, in Saljut and Kosmos space stations,
Skylab, Space Shuttles, the Russian space station MIR and more recently in the
Chinese space lab Tiangong. Microgravity research in space in the field of human
physiology, neuroscience, animal physiology, plant biology, radiation biology,
astrobiology, exobiology and microbiology always was and will be very much
relying on international cooperation, mostly unimpressed by short-lived political
issues.
The International Space Station is the largest international science and technology project ever undertaken representing the by far largest microgravity research
platform that ever existed involving the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and
10 member states of the European Space Agency including Germany, France and
Italy. Based on the political decision for a symbol of international peaceful
cooperation in the Low Earth orbit, all Space Station partners have invested greatly
in this unique endeavor. Although the various space agencies may emphasize
different goals and research objectives in the use of the ISS, they are all unified
in the (1) recognition of the ISS as an education platform to encourage, inspire and
ultimately motivate today’s youth to pursue careers in math, science and engineering, (2) advancement of knowledge in all areas of human physiology, biology,
material and physical sciences in a very unique radiation, microgravity and
isolation environment and (3) translation of that knowledge to health, advanced
product developments, socio-economic and environmental benefits to our lives on
Earth.
For a general description and information on the ISS check the following DLR,
ESA, NASA websites. A list of all research facilities onboard ISS is continuously
updated at http://www.dlr.de/dlr/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10301/460_read-534/#/gal
lery/503, http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_
Station, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html. The assembly
of the ISS started in 1998 and was completed in 2010 providing pressurized modules
developed by the NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan) and ESA
(Europe) and external platforms for science, technology demonstrations, education
and a test bed for human space exploration beyond the low Earth orbit.
A great number of various types of specific racks offer experimental conditions
and equipment for systematic studies in long-term microgravity. NASA provides
utilization statistics and a history of research projects at the following website: http://
www.nasa.gov/pdf/695701main_Current_ISS_Utilization_Statistics.pdf. Updates
2.4 From Drop Tower to ISS—Biology in Free Fall
23
missions (cf. Chap. 9).
Satellites provided research platforms to study the effects of space conditions,
mainly weightlessness and radiation, on living organisms. Encouraged by the
first results, in 1961 Jurij Gagarin became the first human astronaut flying
and surviving in low Earth orbit 300–400 km above the ground. Today, human
beings have been working and living in space well protected from the harsh
conditions of space—vacuum, extreme temperatures and high radiation exposure—in different kinds of return capsules, in Saljut and Kosmos space stations,
Skylab, Space Shuttles, the Russian space station MIR and more recently in the
Chinese space lab Tiangong. Microgravity research in space in the field of human
physiology, neuroscience, animal physiology, plant biology, radiation biology,
astrobiology, exobiology and microbiology always was and will be very much
relying on international cooperation, mostly unimpressed by short-lived political
issues.
The International Space Station is the largest international science and technology project ever undertaken representing the by far largest microgravity research
platform that ever existed involving the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and
10 member states of the European Space Agency including Germany, France and
Italy. Based on the political decision for a symbol of international peaceful
cooperation in the Low Earth orbit, all Space Station partners have invested greatly
in this unique endeavor. Although the various space agencies may emphasize
different goals and research objectives in the use of the ISS, they are all unified
in the (1) recognition of the ISS as an education platform to encourage, inspire and
ultimately motivate today’s youth to pursue careers in math, science and engineering, (2) advancement of knowledge in all areas of human physiology, biology,
material and physical sciences in a very unique radiation, microgravity and
isolation environment and (3) translation of that knowledge to health, advanced
product developments, socio-economic and environmental benefits to our lives on
Earth.
For a general description and information on the ISS check the following DLR,
ESA, NASA websites. A list of all research facilities onboard ISS is continuously
updated at http://www.dlr.de/dlr/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10301/460_read-534/#/gal
lery/503, http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_
Station, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html. The assembly
of the ISS started in 1998 and was completed in 2010 providing pressurized modules
developed by the NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan) and ESA
(Europe) and external platforms for science, technology demonstrations, education
and a test bed for human space exploration beyond the low Earth orbit.
A great number of various types of specific racks offer experimental conditions
and equipment for systematic studies in long-term microgravity. NASA provides
utilization statistics and a history of research projects at the following website: http://
www.nasa.gov/pdf/695701main_Current_ISS_Utilization_Statistics.pdf. Updates
2.4 From Drop Tower to ISS—Biology in Free Fall
23