Astrogenetix entered into a similar SAA in 2009 resulting in 12 successful missions on the Space Shuttle that led to the discovery of potential vaccine targets for both salmonella and MRSA.

This experience clearly identified that the most important part of the discovery process is the repeated frequency of access to microgravity. The new SAA reflects this important priority and NASA has committed to provide a minimum of 28 missions between 2013 and 2016.

"Astrogenetix has been working with NASA for over three years to put the necessary agreements in place that would pave the way for the continued commercial utilization of the ISS.

"It is very clear that NASA shares in our commitment to utilize this most unique of all laboratories and continue with the very promising progress that we have already shown to be possible," explained Astrogenetix Chairman, Thomas B. Pickens, III.

"As of December 2011, NASA has completed the construction of the International Space Station and with signing of this landmark SAA, the ISS is now realizing its vision of becoming a fully operational National Laboratory.

"The Agency is very committed to the commercial success of companies like Astrogenetix and we look forward to supporting this very important work," said Mark Urhan, Director ISS, NASA]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Paris, France (ESA) Feb 09, 2012 - A new augmented reality unit developed by ESA can provide just-in-time medical expertise to astronauts. All they need to do is put on a head-mounted display for 3D guidance in diagnosing problems or even performing surgery.

The Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis and Surgery System, CAMDASS, is a wearable augmented reality prototype.

Augmented reality merges actual and virtual reality by precisely combining computer-generated graphics with the wearer's view.

CAMDASS is focused for now on ultrasound examinations but in principle could guide other procedures.

Ultrasound is leading the way because it is a versatile and effective medical diagnostic tool, and already available on the International Space Station.

Future astronauts venturing further into space must be able to look after themselves. Depending on their distance from Earth, discussions with experts on the ground will involve many minutes of delay or even be blocked entirely.

"Although medical expertise will be available among the crew to some extent, astronauts cannot be trained and expected to maintain skills on all the medical procedures that might be needed," said Arnaud Runge, a biomedical engineer overseeing the project for ESA.

CAMDASS uses a stereo head-mounted display and an ultrasound tool tracked via an infrared camera. The patient is tracked using markers placed at the site of interest.

An ultrasound device is linked with CAMDASS and the system allows the patient's body to be 'registered' to the camera and the display calibrated to each wearer's vision.

3D augmented reality cue cards are then displayed in the headset to guide the wearer. These are provided by matching points on a 'virtual human' and the registered patient.

This guides the wearer to position and move the ultrasound probe.

Reference ultrasound images give users an indication of what they should be seeing, and speech recognition allows hands-free control.

The prototype has been tested for usability at Saint-Pierre University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, with medical and nursing students, Belgian Red Cross and paramedic staff.

Untrained users found they could perform a reasonably difficult procedure without other help, with effective probe positioning.

"Based on that experience, we are looking at refining the system - for instance, reducing the weight of the head-mounted display as well as the overall bulkiness of the prototype," explained Arnaud.

"Once it reaches maturity, the system might also be used as part of a telemedicine system to provide remote medical assistance via satellite.

"It could be deployed as a self-sufficient tool for emergency responders as well.

"It would be interesting to perform more testing in remote locations, in the developing world and potentially in the Concordia Antarctic base. Eventually, it could be used in space."

Funded by ESA's Basic Technology Research Programme, the prototype was developed for the Agency by a consortium led by Space Applications Services NV in Belgium with support from the Technical University of Munich and the DKFZ German

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Houston TX (SPX) Feb 02, 2012 - Just the mention of kidney stones can cause a person to cringe. They are often painful and sometimes difficult to remove, and 10 percent of the population will suffer from them. In space, the risk of developing kidney stones is exacerbated due to environmental conditions. The health risk is compounded by the fact that resource limitations and distance from Earth could restrict treatment options.

Scientists with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) are developing an ultrasound technology that could overcome some medical care challenges associated with kidney stone treatment.

The new technology detects stones with advanced ultrasound imaging based on a process called "Twinkling Artifact" and provides treatment by "pushing" the stone with focused ultrasound. This technology could not only be beneficial for health care in space, but could also alter the treatment of kidney stones on Earth.

The project is led by NSBRI Smart Medical Systems and Technology Team Principal Investigator Dr. Lawrence Crum and Co-Investigator Dr. Michael Bailey; both are researchers at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington (APL-UW). Bailey said their technology is based on equipment currently available.

"We have a diagnostic ultrasound machine that has enhanced capability to image kidney stones in the body," said Bailey, a principal engineer at APL-UW. "We also have a capability that uses ultrasound waves coming right through the skin to push small stones or pieces of stones toward the exit of the kidney, so they will naturally pass, avoiding surgery."

Currently on Earth, the preferred removal method is for patients to drink water to encourage the stones to pass naturally, but this does not always work, and surgery is often the only option. In space, the threat from kidney stones is greater due to the difficulty of keeping astronauts fully hydrated.

Another factor is that bones demineralize in the reduced-gravity environment of space, dumping salts into the blood and eventually into the urine. The elevated concentration of salts in the urine is a risk factor for stones.

Crum, who is a principal physicist at APL-UW, said kidney stones could be a serious problem on a long-duration mission.

"It is possible that if a human were in a space exploration environment and could not easily return to Earth, such as a mission to an asteroid or Mars, kidney stones could be a dangerous situation," Crum said. "We want to prepare for this risk by having a readily available treatment, such as pushing the stone via ultrasound."

Before a stone can be pushed, it needs to be located. Standard ultrasound machines have a black and white imaging mode called B-mode that creates a picture of the anatomy. They also have a Doppler mode that specifically displays blood flow and the motion of the blood within tissue in color.

In Doppler mode a kidney stone can appear brightly colored and twinkling. The reason for this is unknown, but Crum and Bailey are working to understand what causes the Twinkling Artifact image.

"At the same time, we have gone beyond Twinkling Artifact and utilized what we know with some other knowledge about kidney stones to create specific modes for kidney stones," Bailey said. "We present the stone in a way that looks like it is twinkling in an image in which the anatomy is black and white, with one brightly colored stone or multiple colored stones."

Once the stones are located, the ultrasound machine operator can select a stone to target, and then, with a simple push of a button, send a focused ultrasound wave, about half a millimeter in width, to move the stone toward the kidney's exit. The stone moves about one centimeter per second. In addition to being an option to surgery, the technology can be used to "clean up" after surgery.

"There are always residual fragments left behind after surgery," Bailey said. "Fifty percent of those patients will be back within five years for treatment. We can help those fragments pass."

The ultrasound technology being developed for NSBRI by Crum and Bailey is not limited to kidney stone detection and removal. The technology can also be used to stop internal bleeding and ablate (or destroy) tumors. Crum said the research group has innovative plans for the technology.

"We envision a platform technology that has open architecture, is software-based and can use ultrasound for a variety of applications," he said. "Not just for diagnosis, but also for therapy."

NSBRI's research portfolio includes other projects seeking to develop smart medical systems and technologies, such as new uses for ultrasound, that provide health care to astronauts in space. Crum, who served eight years as an NSBRI Team Leader, said the innovative approaches to overcome the restrictive environment of space can make an impact on Earth.

"Space has demanded medical care technology that is versatile, low-cost and has restricted size. All of these required specifications for use in a space environment are now almost demanded by the general public," Crum said. "One of the reasons that translation from one site to another is possible is because of NSBRI's investment."

The ultrasound work by Crum and Bailey has also received support from the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Washington and foundations associated with it to promote commercialization.

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Laurel MD (SPX) Dec 06, 2011 - Johns Hopkins engineers, recognized as experts in medical robotics, have turned their attention skyward to help NASA with a space dilemma: How can the agency fix valuable satellites that are breaking down or running out of fuel? One option - sending a human repair crew into space - is costly, dangerous and sometimes not even possible for satellites in a distant orbit.

Another idea is now getting attention: Send robots to the rescue and give them a little long-distance human help. Johns Hopkins scientists say the same technology that allows doctors to steer a machine through delicate abdominal surgery could someday help an operator on Earth fix a faulty fuel line on the far side of the Moon.

A brief preview of this technology was presented Nov. 29, when two graduate students at Johns Hopkins' Homewood campus in Baltimore used a modified da Vinci medical console to manipulate an industrial robot at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., about 30 miles away.

The demonstration took place during a tour of Goddard by three members of Maryland's congressional delegation: U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski and U.S. Reps. Donna Edwards and Steny Hoyer.

In this demonstration, the da Vinci console was the same type that doctors use to conduct robotic surgery on cancer and cardiac patients. It included a 3D eyepiece that allowed the operator in Baltimore to see and guide the robot at Goddard.

It also provided haptic, or "touch," feedback to the operator. The goal, Johns Hopkins engineers say, is to adapt some robotic operating room strategies to help NASA to perform long-distance "surgery" on ailing satellites.

"We're using the expertise we've developed in medical robotics technology and applying it to some of the remote-controlled tasks that NASA wants space robots to perform in repairing and refueling satellites," said Louis Whitcomb, a Johns Hopkins mechanical engineering professor who was at Goddard to help supervise the recent demonstration.

Goddard is the home of NASA's Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office, which was set up in 2009 to continue NASA's 30-year legacy of satellite servicing and repair, including missions to the Hubble Space Telescope. Its aims are to develop new ways to service satellites and to promote the development of a U.S. industry for conducting such operations.

To move toward these goals, NASA provided a research grant to West Virginia University, which in turn picked Johns Hopkins as a partner because of the school's expertise in medical robotics.

One task the team has worked on is the use of a remote-controlled robot to carefully cut the plastic tape that holds a satellite's thermal insulation blanket in place. The tape must be cut and the blanket pulled back in order to expose the satellite's refueling port.

A long-distance test of this procedure, in which an operator at Johns Hopkins will guide a robot through a tape-cutting procedure in West Virginia, is slated to take place soon

The task will be much more challenging when the target satellite is in orbit around the Moon, for example. Because of the distance, there will be a significant delay between the time the operator signals the robot to move and the time these instructions are received and carried out. The research team is working on technology to help compensate for this delay.

At Johns Hopkins, the project has provided an exciting hands-on research opportunity for Jonathan Bohren, of Westchester County, N.Y., a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, and Tian Xia, of Richland, Wash., a computer science doctoral student. In the recent demonstration at Goddard, Bohren and Xia controlled the robot from a workstation at Johns Hopkins.

"The long-range goal is to be able to manipulate a space robot like this from any location to refuel satellites, for instance," Bohren said. "A lot of satellites have the potential to have their lives extended if we can do that."

Some satellites cost millions or even billions of dollars to construct and launch. If a cost-effective robotic rescue is possible, Xia said, then abandoning spent satellites would be wasteful.

"It would be like driving a fancy car and then ditching it after it runs out of fuel," he said. "We already have a lot of computer-assisted surgical technology here at Johns Hopkins. We could use some of it to help fix and refuel satellites."

The principal investigator of the satellite project at Johns Hopkins is Peter Kazanzides, an associate research professor in the Department of Computer Science in the university's Whiting School of Engineering. Kazanzides also directs the school's Sensing, Manipulation, and Real-Time Systems (SMARTS) lab.

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Berlin. Germany (SPX) Nov 23, 2011 - On 17 November at 19:38 local time (12:38 CET), the Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou-8, carrying the German SIMBOX experiment, landed on schedule in the Gobi desert in Inner Mongolia, completing a successful 17-day mission. SIMBOX, which contains 17 biological and medical experiments, was retrieved by a helicopter crew.

"Figuratively speaking, SIMBOX has been a leap over the Great Wall that has opened up a completely new partnership in human spaceflight for Germany," said Gerd Gruppe, Executive Board member of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) responsible for Space Administration.

"Our new partnership with China provides German scientists with additional research opportunities in space. I do not see this as a competition with our proven long-term cooperation partners, the United States and Russia, but rather as a complement."

The equipment has now arrived and been opened at the Payload Integration Test Centre of the Chinese General Establishment of Space Science and Application in Beijing.

After what is referred to as the checkout of the samples, DLR's SIMBOX project manager, Markus Braun, was highly satisfied: "SIMBOX has worked wonderfully. Once the samples have been brought to their respective laboratories, the participating scientists will start to evaluate them." Seven research institutes from Germany are involved in SIMBOX.

During the mission, plants, nematodes, bacteria, and human cancer cells were exposed to the weightlessness and cosmic radiation of space for two and a half weeks.

The experiments addressed biological and medical issues of fundamental importance. Scientists from the universities of Erlangen, Hohenheim, Magdeburg, Tubingen, Hamburg, and Freiburg, as well as from the Charite Berlin took part in the studies.

In addition to six German experiments, two were run in cooperation with China. Researchers from the universities of Erlangen and Wuhan examined material and energy flows in a closed miniature ecosystem populated by algae and snails.

In the second German-Chinese experiment, scientists from Hamburg University and the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing crystallised medically relevant proteins in microgravity.

Researchers hope to find important starting points for developing substances to attack antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the vector-borne parasites that cause malaria.

Under the Shenzhou (Divine Craft) programme, the core of China's manned space flight, the Chinese space agency CMSEO (China Manned Space Engineering Office) cooperated with another nation for the first time. On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), DLR Space Administration was responsible for coordinating and managing Germany's share of the project. T

he SIMBOX apparatus was built by Astrium in Friedrichshafen. This unmanned flight of the Shenzhou spacecraft to the first module of the future space station, 'Tiangong' (Palace in the Sky) was a field trial for China's future in human spaceflight.

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Paris, France (ESA) Nov 16, 2011 - ESA has begun developing a new blood-testing device for astronauts on the International Space Station. A wide range of ailments from diabetes to heart disease should be diagnosable in moments from a single drop of astronaut blood.

A pinprick of blood is added to a mini-disc embedded with a wide variety of miniaturised test procedures. The disc is then inserted into the 'point-of-care' device and set spinning to spread the blood sample across the surface. Multiple tests are performed simultaneously, with automated results delivered within a matter of minutes.

Testing for conditions including diabetes, heart disease, liver and kidney damage, it promises to perform some of the billion or so blood tests ordered by care providers annually to a laboratory level of accuracy in a faster, on-the-spot fashion.

ESA is now looking to adapt the device for space, signing a contract with Irish company Radisens Diagnostics on 28 October. Additional tests will be added and the design developed for the space environment, such ensuring its spinning technique works satisfactorily in weightlessness.

"Biochemical analysis aboard the Space Station is becoming a high priority for the human physiology experiments carried out there," explained Nadine Fritz of ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Operations.

"The retirement of the Space Shuttle has significantly reduced the amount of cargo we can download from the Station, so it makes sense to do what analysis we can do in orbit."

Ireland's Minister for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock welcomed the contract: "Radisens Diagnostics' success is the most recent example of an Irish company reaping significant benefits from Ireland's membership of ESA.

"It is encouraging to see that Irish small-to-medium-sized enterprises are developing a profile as providers of innovative solutions for use in the European space programme."

Technology meeting the market
This activity is being supported as part of ESA's General Support Technology Programme (GSTP), which serves to mature promising prototypes into space-ready hardware.

In particular, the contract has come about through a dedicated scheme within the main programme: 'GSTP-AO' targets the development of market-oriented technologies, funded equally by ESA and the partner company.

Companies within participating ESA Member States are free to submit proposals at any time.

"This contract with Radisens demonstrates the flexibility and business reach of this scheme," commented Alberto Tobias, head of ESA's Systems, Software and Technology Department.

"It provides the framework to conduct space 'spin-in' as well as 'spin-out' and joint research with partner sectors, and the processes will be better tuned to facilitate open innovation."

"Winning this contract from ESA is a significant endorsement of our 'sample-to-answer' device and the breadth of blood tests it can offer," said Jerry O'Brien, CEO of Radisens Diagnostics.

"We are delighted to formalise our strategic partnership with ESA with the support of Enterprise Ireland and look forward to working on the application of our technology to terrestrial and space healthcare diagnostic needs."

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Houston TX (SPX) Nov 09, 2011 - When aerospace engineers design the new vehicle intended for long-duration space travel, they will need to include a good-sized medicine cabinet. Stocking it, however, is more of a challenge than a quick run to the pharmacy, according to results published from the Stability of Pharmacotherapeutic and Nutritional Compounds, or Stability, investigation.

This study, which explored pharmaceutical stability on the International Space Station, shows that many medications deteriorate faster in space.

Data from past shuttle missions prompted the investigation, after researchers found certain medications packed aboard the orbiter degraded more rapidly than on Earth. To pinpoint the cause of deterioration, the study had to look at everything from packaging to physical and chemical characteristics of specific medicines.

Principal Investigator Lakshmi Putcha, Ph.D., comments on the multitude of conditions specific to space missions that may be responsible for product breakdown.

"Unique environmental factors include, but are not limited to, ambient radiation, excessive vibrational forces, multiple gravity environments and carbon dioxide enrichment; this is in addition to unconventional packaging, resupply operations and other unknowns," said Putcha.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, regulates the safety of medications for human consumption. The Stability study showed, however, that FDA standards may be compromised for medications during space travel. "If pharmaceuticals degrade into chemicals that we do not know the concentration and chemical characteristics to set toxicity limits for," commented Putcha, "then medications could become not only less effective, but even dangerous."

Researchers studied 35 different medications, including solids, liquids, and capsules. The variety of the selected pharmaceuticals reflected the potential needs for crew members to address everything from headaches to fevers. Putcha emphasizes the varied medical concerns long-duration spaceflight may encounter.

"In the future we will need to pack long-acting antibiotics, as well as bone, muscle, and immune function enhancing drugs. This is in addition to radiation protectants, cardiovascular medications, anti-anxiety and anti-depressants, fatigue reducing and performance enhancing medications, and drugs for emergency medicine, to list some of the ones needed for the space station and beyond," said Putcha.

The medicines, which were contained in identical stability kits, launched to the space station aboard STS-121 in July 2006 and remained in orbit for different durations. The first kit returned with the landing of the STS-121 mission, followed by the second, third and fourth kits in June 2007, Feb. 2008 and Nov. 2008, respectively.

The samples that were exposed to the space environment were examined after return to Earth for physical and chemical characteristics to check their level of degradation against ground-based control samples.

A higher percentage of medications from each flight kit degraded, compared to those in ground control kits. Of the antibiotic medications studied, Augmentin was the most unstable due to one of its ingredients: clavulanate. The degradation of clavulanate in space caused the drug to lose almost 50% potency.

This was much sooner than the manufacturer's expiration date on the label. Comparatively, the investigation showed that the antibiotic imipenem/cilastatin - flown in original commercial packaging - remained relatively stable in flight and on the ground.

Part of the challenge with medications in space involves packaging. Due to stowage requirements, some products are taken out of their original manufacturer's container and repacked for flight. This can increase the susceptibility of the drug to the spacecraft's ambient environmental conditions and decrease the anticipated shelf life.

Results show that 18 of the 33 medications, even from ground control kits, were unstable before projected expiration dates, most likely due to repackaging.

Currently aboard the space station, medications are replaced six months prior to their labeled expiration date. For long-duration space exploration, however, such frequent resupply is not possible. Researchers recommend development of more stable formulations and robust packaging based on the results of this study.

The investigation also helped to identify some medications that are stable and maintained their shelf-life in space. Selecting pharmaceuticals with sustained stability implies potential cost savings and more reliable products for crew consumption.

Here on Earth, the results of the Stability investigation can advance the knowledge of environmental effects on food and drugs for remote site medicine and inhabitants of extreme locations, like the Antarctic.

The data can also contribute to the development of mathematical models to predict medication shelf life in adverse environments, such as low Earth orbit and beyond. In addition, this research could aid in development of improved packaging and shielding materials, as well as more stable pharmaceutical formulations.

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST San Francisco CA (SPX) Nov 04, 2011 - A new study sponsored by NASA finds that space flights lasting six months or more can cause a spectrum of changes in astronauts' visual systems. Some problems, including blurry vision, appear to persist long after astronauts' return to Earth.

The results are affecting plans for long-duration manned space voyages, such as a trip to Mars. The study team included ophthalmologists Thomas H. Mader, MD, of Alaska Native Medical Center and Andrew G. Lee, MD, of The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas. Their report is published in October's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology

The researchers studied seven astronauts, all of whom were about age 50 and had spent at least six continuous months in space. All reported that their vision became blurry, to varying degrees, while on the space station. Vision changes usually began around six weeks into the mission and persisted in some astronauts for months after their return to Earth.

Drs. Mader and Lee agree that the eye abnormalities appear to be unrelated to launch or re-entry, since they occurred only in astronauts who spent extended time in microgravity.

In-depth examination of the seven astronauts revealed several abnormalities. All of the subjects had one or more of the following changes in the tissues, fluids, nerves and other structures in the back of the eye:

+ Flattening of the back of the eyeball (five subjects);

+ Folds in the choroid, the vascular tissue behind the retina, which is the light sensitive area in the back of the eye (five subjects); and

+ Excess fluid around and presumed swelling of the optic nerve (five subjects).

Such abnormalities could potentially be caused by increased intracranial pressure-that is, pressure inside the head. However, none of these astronauts experienced symptoms usually associated with intracranial pressure, such as chronic headache, double vision, or ringing in the ears.

Researchers believe other factors may be involved, such as abnormal flow of spinal fluid around the optic nerve, changes in blood flow in the choroid, or changes related to chronic low pressure within the eye, which is known as intraocular pressure.

They hypothesize that these changes may result from the fluid shifts toward the head that occur when astronauts spend extended time in microgravity.

The visual system changes discovered by the researchers may represent a set of adaptations to microgravity. The degree and type of response appear to vary among astronauts. Researchers hope to discover whether some astronauts are less affected by microgravity and therefore better-suited for extended space flight, such as a three-year round trip to Mars.

In their report, Drs. Mader and Lee also noted a recent NASA survey of 300 astronauts that found that correctible problems with both near and distance vision were reported by about 23 percent of astronauts on brief missions and by 48 percent of those on extended missions.

The survey confirmed that for some astronauts, these vision changes continue for months or years after return to Earth. The possibility of near vision problems has been recognized for decades, and special "space anticipation glasses" to improve visual sharpness have been provided on all spacecraft dating back to John Glenn, who had a pair in his space capsule.

"In astronauts over age 40, like non-astronauts of the same age, the eye's lens may have lost some of its ability to change focus," said Dr. Mader.

"In the space program's early days most astronauts were younger, military test-pilots who had excellent vision. Today's astronauts tend to be in their 40s or older. This may be one reason we've seen an uptick in vision problems. Also, we suspect many of the younger astronauts were more likely to 'tough out' any problems they experienced, rather than reporting them."

As part of ongoing research all astronauts now receive comprehensive eye exams and vision testing. Diagnostic tests include pre- and post-flight magnetic resonance imaging, optical coherence tomography, which magnifies cross-section views of parts of the eye, and fundus photography, which records images of the retina and back of the eye. Intraocular pressure measurement and ultrasound imaging take place in flight, as well as pre- and post-mission.

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Chennai, India (SPX) Oct 18, 2011 - This paper is an introduction to gravitational and space life sciences and a summary of key achievements in the field. Current global research is focused on understanding the effects of gravity/microgravity on microbes, cells, plants, animals and humans.

It is now established that many plants and animals can progress through several generations in microgravity. Astrobiology is emerging as an exciting field promoting research in biospherics and fabrication of controlled environmental life support systems.

India is one of the 14-nation International Space Exploration Coordination Group (2007) that hopes that someday humans may live and work on other planets within the Solar System. The vision statement of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) includes planetary exploration and human spaceflight.

While a leader in several fields of space science, India is yet to initiate serious research in gravitational and life sciences. Suggestions are made here for establishing a full-fledged Indian space life sciences programme.

Life has evolved in the past four billion years under the influence of the Earth's massive field of gravity. Several features of life were shaped by gravity as organisms adapted to living in water, air, land and on trees.

Gravitational biology explores how organisms perceive and respond to gravity and how gravity influences the structure, development, function, evolution and behav- iour of organisms (Morey-Holton 2003).

The space age allowed for experiments in microgravity environment and the emergence of space life sciences including fields such as human space physiology and medicine.

'Space biology' is often used as an alternate expression by researchers and journals (e.g. Gravitational and Space Biology) to describe the functioning of all life processes in space environment.

Gravitational biology and space exploration have stimulated enduring interest in astrobiology, which addresses questions such as how does life begin and evolve, does life exist elsewhere in the universe, and what is the future of life on Earth and beyond (Des Marais et al. 2008; Lucas 2009).

Gravity and life
Of the four fundamental forces, only electromagnetism is directly involved in biological processes. No direct role is known either for the strong or weak nuclear forces or gravity in any biochemical process.

Gravity influences living organisms indirectly. The gravitational force is 1038 times weaker than the strong nuclear force. However, gravitational force is of infinite range, and positively acts on all particles with mass/energy.

Any object with a mass at the surface of the Earth accelerates towards Earth's centre at approximately 9.81 m/s2. This acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface is generally treated as 1g (one Earth gravity).

The dilemma of growing in a 1g environment and responding to it can be seen in nearly 400-million-year-old fossil vascular plants and their descendants. On land, roots became positively gravitropic to obtain water and nutrients from the soil.

The negative gravitropism of shoots and various branching angles and the characteristic tree architectural patterns evolved for efficient access to carbon dioxide and light and strategic placement of reproductive structures for pollination and dispersal.

The mechanical load due to gravity is about a thousand times larger for land-living organisms than for those living in water. In response to this increased load, plants might have evolved 'antigravitational' substances such as lignin, cellulose and pectin, while animals strengthened their bones with hydroxyapatite mineral form of calcium associated with collagen (Volkmann and Baluska 2006).

Plant gravitropism has been studied for the past 200 years (Kiss 2006; Hasenstein 2009; Moulia and Fournier 2009). In the animal kingdom, response to gravity has been studied in all major groups. Organs such as the antennal sensilla of Johnston's organ in insects and the vestibular apparatus of higher animals detect gravity for proper orientation and gravitaxis (=geotaxis) movements.

The musculo-skeletal system evolved to support the body mass and provide structural and postural stability to land animals as they moved about in search of food. The sensory-motor system evolved so that organisms could recognize the gravity vector and orient themselves and move about. A vestibular system evolved in fish for efficient swimming.

The versatile design of this system, with minor modification in nerve-motor connections, was retained by amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals for navigation in water and air and on trees and land. Human beings have inherited many of these evolutionary adaptations (Highstein et al. 2004).

The vestibular system is the key to the human senses of balance, motion, and body position. The otolith organs allow humans to sense the direction and speed of linear acceleration and the position (tilt) of the head. The semicircular canals help sense the direction and speed of angular acceleration (Coulter and Vogt 2004).

As a bipedal erect animal, the genus Homo had to adapt to gravity for at least 2.4 million years. Their ancestral bipedal hominins faced this dilemma nearly 7 million years ago. The cardiovascular system helped maintain adequate pressure and supply of blood to various parts of the body, especially the head.

The normal and healthy life of humans is conditioned at least in three different ways by the 1g environment of Earth: (a) by experiencing a pull of the g-force in the head-to-toe direction, (b) through various normal physical activities of exertion against the g-force, and (c) through changes experienced during oriented movements/ postural changes (Legner 2003).

Read the complete science at IAS

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Orlando, Fla. (UPI) Sep 20, 2011 - Astronauts who've spent long periods in space have experienced blurred vision, a problem that could jeopardize long missions like a trip to Mars, NASA says.

In a NASA survey of about 300 astronauts, 30 percent who have flown on two-week space shuttle missions and 60 percent who've spent six months aboard the International Space Station reported a gradual blurring of eyesight, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Monday.

NASA said it is conducting intensive research into the problem.

"We are certainly treating this with a great deal of respect," Dr. Rich Williams, NASA's chief health and medical officer, said. "This [eye condition] is comparable to the other risks like bone demineralization [loss] and radiation that we have to consider … . It does have the potential for causing mission impact."

While the condition normally goes away once an astronaut returns to Earth, at least one astronaut reportedly has never regained normal vision.

"We have seen visual acuity not return to baseline," Williams said.

Similar to an Earth-bound condition called papilledema, the blurred vision is thought to be caused by increased spinal-fluid pressure on the head and eyes in microgravity.

Multiyear missions such as a trip to Mars could see the blurring of vision become a serious problem, researchers said.

"No one has been in space long enough to know how bad this papilledema can get," said Dr. Bruce Ehni, a neurosurgeon who has worked with NASA on the issue.

"When they [NASA] start going [to] long-distance [destinations] like Mars, you can't end up having a bunch of blind astronauts."

]]> Tue, 21 FEB 2012 08:48:24 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D