Kennedy Space Center (10/27/98)- John Glenn is not just going
along for the ride on NASA Shuttle Mission STS-95. The first American in
orbit will be kept quite busy working on a number of scientific projects
studying everything from aerogels and soy beans to the aging of muscle
and bone.
One
thing Glenn and the his fellow space travelers will be doing is trying
to make a better aerogel. Aerogel is a novel man-made product with phenomenal
insulating abilities. Aerogel is only 3 times denser than air, yet A single
one-inch window pane of aerogel can provide the same insulation as 32 windows
panes of storm window glass. NASA engineers added a coat of the substance
to the Sojourner rover on the last mission to Mars to protect the vehicles
from the extreme temperatures of the red planet.
Photo: aerogel protects
a rose from an open flame
The only real problem with aerogel is that when it is made on Earth
it is not completely transparent. Glenn and colleagues will conduct experiments
to determine if aerogels manufactured in space would be free of imperfections,
making it as clear as glass. Such an aerogel could make a good substitute
for glass, with enough insulating ability to help reduce energy demand,
and with it, pollution, across the planet. Absorbent forms of aerogel also
have considerable potential for capturing polluting gases before they reach
the atmosphere.
BIODYNAMICS
Senator Glenn will also spend some of his time conducting a series
of life science experiments. The experiment package, Biodynamics and Space
Cell Culture, or "biodyn" for short, will evaluate the production of
bio- materials by living cells. The research will contribute to the understanding
of medical conditions related to aging, such as heart and vascular
disease, bone degeneration, diabetes and cancer.
Biodyn includes experiments involving tissue engineering, such as bone
implants and heart muscle patches. The experiment package includes
plant cells capable of producing anti-cancer and anti-alcoholism compounds
in microgravity. Another experiment will involve growing cells that produce
a genetically engineered protein to help prevent rejection of organ and
tissue transplants.
"All of these biomedical products have great humanitarian value and
occupy an existing commercial market niche estimated at billions of dollars.
The results could benefit millions of people worldwide," said project coordinator
Marian Lewis of the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
For example, simple heart muscle patches can be developed on Earth,
but multi-layered patches that could replace damaged heart muscle must
be produced in a gravity-free environment, Those multi-layered patches
could eventually reduce the need for heart transplants. There are
more than 50,000 people each year needing a heart transplant to survive
and only 2,000 donors are available annually, says Lewis.
Another experiment will evaluate the potential of growing a hybrid material
combining synthetic and natural bone. The researchers believe manufacturing
the substance in microgravity conditions could lead to new products including
dental implants, long bone grafts and coatings for orthopedic implants,
such as hip replacements.
Glenn's own bones and muscles will also be under study. At age 77, Glenn
will be the oldest man to orbit the Earth. During the flight, scientists
will gather information about physiological changes on an older body in
space.
"I think John will teach us a lot about the quality of life with his
bout in space," says Wayne Osness, exercise physiologist at the University
of Kansas. He is editor of a new book, "Exercise and the Older Adult"
Muscle tissue atrophies in space because the force of gravity is gone.
"Our bodies are trained in gravity. Gravity dictates the way we sit or
stand. Anyone who has been bedridden for six weeks experiences tissue atrophy
similar to what astronauts experience," Osness notes.
SOYBEANS
Glenn will also conduct experiments to assess the ability of pathogens
to incorporate foreign DNA into soybeans in microgravity. The experiment
is a modification of a technique that is successfully used on earth.
"How many people can say an American hero and U.S. senator is acting
as their technician in space? John Glenn performing my experiment came
as a complete shock to me. If I had written a scenario myself, it would
not have been this good," says Rick Vierling, an adjunct associate professor
of agronomy at Purdue University, designer of the study.
Vierling was caught by surprise when NASA informed him his proposed
experiment had been bumped up the list and would fly on STS-95. As a result,
he had only six months to complete two years worth of preparation for the
experiment.
"I didn't know the federal government could move that fast," Vierling
says. "It really put me under the gun. I had planned on about 18 to 20
months to get the background information so we could correctly design the
experiment. Weightlessness poses unique parameters and problems that
had to be overcome."
After Glenn does his work, the 1,000 soybean seeds will be returned
to Purdue and cultivated in greenhouses. The progeny of those seeds will
be analyzed as part of Vierling's experiment next spring.
Other projects on the STS-95 manifest include:
-
E-Nose, a new, miniature environmental monitoring instrument that detects
and identifies a wide range of organic and inorganic molecules down to
the parts-per-million level. The objective on STS-95 is to flight-test
E-Nose and assess its ability to monitor changes in Discovery's middeck
atmosphere.
-
A study of the effects of microgravity on embryogenesis and cell formation
in orchard grass.
-
Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Orbital Systems Test (HOST) platform,
an on-orbit test bed for hardware that will be installed on the orbiting
telescope during the third HST servicing mission.
-
International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker (IEH-3), a study of the magnitude
of the absolute solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) flux and EUV emitted by
the plasma torus system around Jupiter and stellar objects. It will also
study the Earth's thermosphere, ionosphere, and mesophere.
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