New facilities and instruments for developmental biology research in space.

Abstract

Three new ESA facilities will be available for biological experiments in Space, Biopack on the Space Shuttle and two instruments on the International Space Station (ISS): BIOLAB in the European "Columbus" Laboratory and the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) in the US Lab "Destiny". The experiments are housed in standard Experiment Containers, allowing either research in microgravity or acceleration studies with variable g-levels, if mounted on the centrifuges. While Biopack provides only thermal control, BIOLAB and EMCS supply each container with a dedicated atmosphere (controlled CO2, O2 concentration and relative humidity, trace gas removal): EMCS contains also fresh and wastewater reservoirs on its rotors. Power and data lines are available in all the described facilities. Highly automated systems, like BIOLAB's Handling Mechanism and Analysis Instruments, support the telescience concept and help reducing crew time in orbit. A BioGlovebox with its support instruments allows unique research possibilities in Space. The feasibility of experiment hardware inside the containers has been studied by ESA for several kinds of Experiment Support Equipment with potential use for research in Developmental Biology: design concepts for experiments with small eggs, cells and tissues, with small aquatic animals, with insects and with plants are described in this article.