Gravitational Biology 



reentry. Such vehicles should allow a wide choice of orbital inclinations 

 and altitudes, mission length, and scheduling. 



— A dedicated life sciences laboratory should be included as part of the 

 Space Station's Permanently Manned Capability (PMC) with emphasis on 

 the use of existing Shuttle, Spacelab, and free-flier hardware. 



— U.S./U.S.S.R. cooperation should be continued and increased, especially 

 for Biocosmos missions; and joint U.S./U.S.S.R. Soyuz/Salyiit/Mir 

 missions should be vigorously pursued. 



— Other international collaborative efforts should also be pursued. 



— NASA should explore the possibility of using commercial space facilities, 

 such as domestic and foreign expendable launch vehicles, Spacehab, a 

 middeck extension module with middeck lockers that would ride in the 

 payload bay immediately aft of the crew module bulkhead, or the 

 Commercially Developed Space Facility — a Shuttle-launched mini-Space 

 Station with both man-tended and autonomous operating capabilities. 



On-Orbit Histology Capability 



Findings 



• Life sciences research involves the study of dynamic, constantly changing 

 systems. Frequently, the only way to understand adequately the components of 

 these activities is to stop them (by chemical fixation) in serial fashion (both 

 temporally and spatially) and compare the observed changes from one sample 

 to another. 



• While the end results of exposure to microgravity are often clear, the interim 

 steps are not. This is especially troublesome when Developmental Biology's 

 concern for the step-by-step progression is considered. 



• To date, the ability to perform on-orbit fixation and analysis of specimens has 

 been limited. Most fixation has had to be done post-flight, often after 

 specimens were exposed to the stresses of reentry and landing. 



Recommendation 



• The capabilities for manual and/or automated tissue culturing, histology, and 

 light microscopy (all with image-transmitting capabilities) should be 

 included in any life sciences laboratory on the Space Station. 



Computers, Analytical Equipment, and Remote Processing 



Findings 



• The Life Sciences Division does not take full advantage of recent advances in 

 analytical hardware and procedures. 



• To maximize its efforts, the Life Sciences Division needs to incorporate these 

 recent advances into on-orbit and ground-based data analysis. 



109 



