![]() Air Force was conducting a communications experiment. And another university was testing a navigation system for future satellites. The German Space Agency measured the development of the gravity-sensing organs of fish in the absence of gravity.Ī university was growing ultra-pure protein crystals for drug research. ![]() The Canadian Space Agency sponsored three bone-growth experiments, and was collaborating with ESA on two others. ![]() SPACEHAB was also making it possible for universities, companies and other government agencies to do important research in space without having to provide their own spacecraft. Another studied the physical characteristics of bubbles and droplets in the absence of the effects of Earth’s gravity. These experiments addressed different aspects of many of the same phenomena that NASA is interested in, providing a more thorough description of the effects of space flight, often in the same subjects or specimens.ĮSA performed seven in-flight experiments, and one ground-based, on the cardiopulmonary changes that occur in astronauts.Īdditional ESA biological investigations examined bone formation and maintenance immune system functioning connective tissue growth and repair and bacterial and yeast cell responses to the stresses of space flight.Ī special facility grew large, well-ordered protein and virus crystals that were expected to lead to improved drug designs. The European Space Agency (ESA), through a contract with SPACEHAB, flew an important payload focused on astronaut health, biological function and basic physical phenomena in space. NASA also tested a new technology to recycle water prior to installing a device to recycle water permanently aboard the International Space Station. Other studies focused on changes, due to space flight, in the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems in the systems which sense and respond to gravity and in the capability of organisms to respond to stress and maintain normal function. Another experiment evaluated the commercial usefulness of plant products grown in space.Ī facility for forming protein crystals more purely and with fewer flaws than is possible on Earth may lead to a drug designed for specific diseases with fewer side effects.Ī commercially sponsored facility housed two experiments to grow protein crystals to study possible therapies against the factors that cause cancers to spread and bone cancer to inflict intense pain on its sufferers.ĪBOVE VIDEO: President Bush’s address to the nation on the Columbia shuttle disaster.Ī third experiment looked at developing a new technique of encapsulating anti-cancer drugs to improve their efficiency. In the area of biological applications, two separate OBPR experiments allowed different types of cell cultures to grow together in weightlessness to elevate their development of enhanced genetic characteristics - one use was to combat prostate cancer, the other to improve crop yield. Yet another experiment used pressurized liquid xenon to mimic the behaviors of more complex fluids such as blood flowing through capillaries. This information can help engineers provide stronger foundations for structures in areas where earthquakes, floods and landslides are common.Īnother experiment evaluated the formation of zeolite crystals, which can speed the chemical reactions that are the basis for chemical processes used in refining, biomedical and other areas. These experiments provided new insights into combustion and fire suppression that cannot be gained on Earth.Īn experiment that compresses granular materials in the absence of gravity furthered our understanding of construction techniques. In the physical sciences, three studies inside a large, rugged chamber examined the physics of combustion, soot production and fire quenching processes in microgravity. The KSC debris reconstruction team identified pieces as to location on the orbiter, and determined damaged areas.Ībout 38 percent of the orbiter Columbia was eventually recovered.Īs a research mission, the crew was kept busy 24 hours a day performing various chores involved with science experiments.Įxperiments in the SPACEHAB RDM included nine commercial payloads involving 21separate investigations, four payloads for the European Space Agency with 14 investigations, one payload/investigation for ISS Risk Mitigation and 18 payloads supporting 23 investigations for NASA’s Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR). Nearly 85,000 pieces of orbiter debris were shipped to KSC and housed in the Columbia Debris Hangar near the Shuttle Landing Facility. The search was headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La. ![]() A seven-month investigation followed, including a four month search across Texas to recover debris.
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