For nearly 50 years, NASA’s Space Biology Program has funded, and NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley has conducted, a robust program of fundamental research including studies using a wide range of animal cells, tissues and organisms. Much of this research was conducted on spacecraft in microgravity environments including diverse platforms such as: Gemini spacecraft, U.S. biosatellites, Apollo command modules, Skylabs, Russian biosatellites, NASA space shuttles, NASA/Mir, and most recently, the International Space Station.
NASA’s Special Publication entitled, “Translational Cell and Animal Research in Space, Ames Research Center, 1965–2011” (26.2 MB PDF), summarizes cell and animal research in space supported by the Space Biosciences Division (formerly Life Sciences Division) at Ames, for animal and related cell spaceflight research from missions that were conducted in that 46 year period. This publication includes one-page descriptions of experiments, grouped by science discipline area. Each experiment description page provides information on the investigator team, the research subjects, the ground-based controls, the flight hardware used, and selected publications, as available. The top-level summary information for each experiment includes objectives/hypothesis, approach or method, and available results. The content is written at a level intended to be generally understandable by a broad audience with interest in this subject. Basic biologists, clinical scientists, flight medical personnel, and many others should find this report to be a valuable resource for guiding future space biomedical research. Laymen and students can also benefit from this comprehensive resource describing the rich history of space life sciences research.
This publication addresses some of the recommendations in the report from the National Research Council Committee for the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences. The committee stated there is a need for greater “translational research in the space/life sciences.” A key suggestion from the Integrative and Translational Research for Human Systems Panel of the National Research Council Committee was to “improve central information networks to facilitate data sharing…to enhance the science results derived from flight opportunities.” This NASA document is intended to be an important reference as it summarizes nearly 50 years of translational biological research performed in space. The publication was produced with the support of NASA’s Space Biology Program and the Human Health Countermeasures Element of NASA’s Human Research Program.