Columbia Experiments
Commercial and student experiments containers were found in east Texas duing Columbia recovery efforts. They were recently released to researchers believe the salvaged experiments produce valuable science.
the
The STS-107 mission was NASA's most scientifically ambitious
spaceflight in years. Columbia carried more than 80 experiments — so many that
the astronauts had to form two 12-hour shifts so they could carry on their
experimentation around the clock.
Most of the research focused on
saving lives on Earth. For instance, they studied the growth of prostate cancer
tissue in hopes of finding a treatment.
Another experiment on
combustion created the weakest flame ever lit in a laboratory — about 1/200th
the flame of a match. The astronauts found that weaker flames create less soot.
That's important because soot accounts for about 60,000 premature deaths in the
United States.
Much of the science data gathered during Columbia's 16
days in orbit was lost with the shuttle. However, NASA has been able to harvest
some of the results of the experiments conducted by the astronauts because they
beamed their data down by radio while still in space. Other experiments and
results were recovered amidst the debris on the ground.
Worms found alive. Surprisingly, hundreds of worms from one of the science
experiments were found alive amidst the debris in Texas. The worms were the
only live experiments found and identified from Columbia's 60 scientific
investigations. Some dead moss cells were found with the worms.
The worms, known as C. elegans, and the dead moss cells had been in a nine-pound
locker on the shuttle mid-deck. Six canisters, each with eight petri dishes,
contained the worms. Seven of eight aluminum canisters containing the moss were
recovered.
About the size of a pencil point, the worms have a life
cycle of 7-10 days. Those found were four to five generations removed from the
original worms sent to space in Columbia to test a synthetic nutrient solution.
C. elegans worms are primitive organisms that share numerous biological
characteristics with humans. C. elegans worms have two sexes — males and
hermaphrodites. The hermaphrodites are females that produce sperm. The
hermaphrodites fertilize themselves for their first 300 eggs, but then accept
sperm from male worms. That allows the species to produce more offspring. In
1999, C. elegans had become the first multicellular organism to have its genome
completely the sequenced.
Moss preserved. The type of moss flown on Columbia is known as Ceratodon.
It was used to study how gravity affects cell organization. The moss was
sprayed during the flight with a chemical that destroyed its protein fiber.
Then formaldehyde was used to preserve the dead moss.
Others recovered. A 6.5-inch wide, 11-inch long aluminum device found in the shuttle
debris in Nacogdoches, Texas, may yield science experiment data.
The shuttle also carried experiments composed by
children as young as 12 from Australia, China, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein and
the U.S. Also aboard were roses and other plants, and small animals, including
silkworms, spiders, carpenter bees, harvester ants and Japanese
killfish.
spaceflight in years. Columbia carried more than 80 experiments — so many that
the astronauts had to form two 12-hour shifts so they could carry on their
experimentation around the clock.
Most of the research focused on
saving lives on Earth. For instance, they studied the growth of prostate cancer
tissue in hopes of finding a treatment.
Another experiment on
combustion created the weakest flame ever lit in a laboratory — about 1/200th
the flame of a match. The astronauts found that weaker flames create less soot.
That's important because soot accounts for about 60,000 premature deaths in the
United States.
Much of the science data gathered during Columbia's 16
days in orbit was lost with the shuttle. However, NASA has been able to harvest
some of the results of the experiments conducted by the astronauts because they
beamed their data down by radio while still in space. Other experiments and
results were recovered amidst the debris on the ground.
Worms found alive. Surprisingly, hundreds of worms from one of the science
experiments were found alive amidst the debris in Texas. The worms were the
only live experiments found and identified from Columbia's 60 scientific
investigations. Some dead moss cells were found with the worms.
The worms, known as C. elegans, and the dead moss cells had been in a nine-pound
locker on the shuttle mid-deck. Six canisters, each with eight petri dishes,
contained the worms. Seven of eight aluminum canisters containing the moss were
recovered.
About the size of a pencil point, the worms have a life
cycle of 7-10 days. Those found were four to five generations removed from the
original worms sent to space in Columbia to test a synthetic nutrient solution.
C. elegans worms are primitive organisms that share numerous biological
characteristics with humans. C. elegans worms have two sexes — males and
hermaphrodites. The hermaphrodites are females that produce sperm. The
hermaphrodites fertilize themselves for their first 300 eggs, but then accept
sperm from male worms. That allows the species to produce more offspring. In
1999, C. elegans had become the first multicellular organism to have its genome
completely the sequenced.
Moss preserved. The type of moss flown on Columbia is known as Ceratodon.
It was used to study how gravity affects cell organization. The moss was
sprayed during the flight with a chemical that destroyed its protein fiber.
Then formaldehyde was used to preserve the dead moss.
Others recovered. A 6.5-inch wide, 11-inch long aluminum device found in the shuttle
debris in Nacogdoches, Texas, may yield science experiment data.
The shuttle also carried experiments composed by
children as young as 12 from Australia, China, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein and
the U.S. Also aboard were roses and other plants, and small animals, including
silkworms, spiders, carpenter bees, harvester ants and Japanese
killfish.
Although it's been several years since the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, it
looks like some of the data gathered during the orbiter's final mission will be
put to good use. A hard drive salvaged from the wreckage contains the results of
an experiment to study the way xenon gas flows in microgravity, and the results
were published in the April edition of a journal called Physical Review E. The
400MB Seagate drive was originally thought to be destroyed, but workers and
engineers reconstructing the orbiter from the remaining debris found it during
the process and sent it off for recovery, where 99 percent of the data was
extracted. It then took several years for lead researcher Robert Berg and his
team to analyze the findings, but they're happy with the results
looks like some of the data gathered during the orbiter's final mission will be
put to good use. A hard drive salvaged from the wreckage contains the results of
an experiment to study the way xenon gas flows in microgravity, and the results
were published in the April edition of a journal called Physical Review E. The
400MB Seagate drive was originally thought to be destroyed, but workers and
engineers reconstructing the orbiter from the remaining debris found it during
the process and sent it off for recovery, where 99 percent of the data was
extracted. It then took several years for lead researcher Robert Berg and his
team to analyze the findings, but they're happy with the results