Technology Transfer

Biotechnology Gets a Head Start

WHILE ASTRONAUTS ASSEMBLE AND ACTIVATE the first portion of the International Space Station (ISS), NASA scientists are preparing experiments that will take advantage of the most extensive space-based laboratory ever devised.

Biotechnology experiments are likely to be among the first microgravity science payloads aboard the ISS. In these experiments, protein crystals and cell cultures grown in space as part of the biotechnology program are analyzed on Earth. The experiments involving protein crystallization frequently return crystals with properties superior to those grown on Earth. These crystals are then used to determine the structures of molecules within the crystals. This information provides a better understanding of how the protein molecule works. These are the initial steps of a process called rational drug design, in which the knowledge of a molecule's structure is used in the development of drugs or treatments for diseases.

Cell cultures performed in space have shown differences with similar cultures performed on Earth. In some cases, the space-grown cultures exhibit properties more like those of cells found in the body than cells found in Earth-grown cultures. These differences can be used to better understand how the tissues of the body work without experimenting on human subjects. "Most of our current inventory of payloads can fly very early," said Patton Downey, NASA discipline scientist for microgravity biotechnology research, a discipline that has had great success with experiments aboard the Space Shuttle and Russia's Mir space station.

Most of the protein crystal growth hardware requires little of the ISS's resources and crew support. At most, they only need to be turned on and, days or months later, turned off. If crew time is available, some photo documentation may be requested.

Topping that list are payloads known as the Enhanced Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar and Diffusion Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity. Each grows large quantities of crystals by slightly different techniques.

It is likely that these experiments will be conducted in an EXPRESS rack designed to handle experiments with minimal complexity, or in whatever space is available inside the Unity (Node 1) module, Zarya (the Russian-built base module) and other ISS elements as they are added.

"After that, the rotating Bioreactor experiments in cell science will start on one of the utilization flights," Downey said. The Bioreactor is more complex and will require some crew attention because the health and growth of the cell clusters inside must be monitored and the nutrient and waste bags replaced.

"What we would fly is much like what we flew on Russia's Mir," Downey said. "It would be self-contained with its own gas supply and other resources."

Extra Elbow Room

Many of the microgravity experiments planned for the ISS got their start—or an important boost—from early work in the Middeck Glovebox, a small enclosure carried aboard the Space Shuttle and Mir. In the glovebox, astronauts were able to conduct experiments that are highly promising but do not quite warrant a full-fledged facility of their own. They still need the personal touch.

Aboard the ISS, a larger, more capable Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) will be installed soon after the Laboratory module is launched. "It's going to be a little like pulling up to one of the workbenches in the laboratory here," said Charlie Baugher, MSG project scientist. "It'll have everything but the kitchen sink."

Services provided by the new glovebox will include electrical power, air conditioning (to clean the air and cool equipment), pressurized nitrogen, a vacuum vent, color video and connections to the ISS's own network and—through communications satellites and the Internet—to scientists at universities and government laboratories.

The new glovebox will be spacious. Scientists using the Middeck Glovebox had to cram experiments into containers about the size of a lunch pail, and then astronauts had to conduct the experiments in a volume just a little bigger than the lunch box. The MSG—with a large pull-out enclosure—will have openings 40 centimeters (16 inches) wide to accommodate experiments as large as a carry-on bag and more than enough room for astronauts to work around the apparatus.

"The beauty of the MSG is that it is much more powerful than the original gloveboxes that scientists used and so more complete science can be done," said Dr. Don Gillies, the materials science discipline scientist.

On the Rack(s)

The MSG will be joined by the larger Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF), yet to be developed, and then integrated. The MSRF is a modular facility comprising three autonomous Materials Science Research Racks (MSRR) for research in the microgravity environment on the ISS and other equipment to conduct a wide variety of scientific investigations. Although they can be replaced in orbit, NASA envisions keeping the racks in place as long as possible and exchanging experiment systems within the racks. MSRR-1, scheduled for launch in October 2002, will host several modules developed by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), one of the major ISS partners.

The facility will provide the apparatus for satisfying near-term and long-range materials science discipline goals and objectives to be accomplished in the U.S. Laboratory. "It will handle a wide range of research in electronic crystals and advanced alloys," said Dr. Frank Szofran, MSRF project scientist.

The left side of the rack will be filled with experiments provided by NASA's Space Product Development Program, which is working with industry to develop commercial applications in space processing. The Space Product Development Experiment Module (SPDEM), being developed by the Consortium for Materials Development in Space at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, will accommodate multiple furnace modules, including both transparent and opaque furnaces.

The right side will be filled with research equipment provided by NASA and ESA, which is also building its own laboratory, the Columbus Orbital Facility. NASA and ESA are each working on two module inserts for the first MSRR and will take turns using the rack.

The full range of experiments and their schedules are being developed by NASA and its partners. They deliberately avoided locking the experiments in place because science usually moves at an unpredictable rate, and today's discoveries can redirect tomorrow's plans.

For more information, contact Patton Downey at NASA Headquarters.
Call: 202/358-0602, Fax: 202/358-2919, E-mail: pdowney@hq.nasa.gov
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The Microgravity Science Glovebox offers more working space than the successful ones used aboard the Space Shuttle, Spacelab and Mir.

A cutaway view of the U.S. Laboratory showing several of the Materials Science Research Racks.