Description
The advent of the International Space Station ISS and the exploration by humans of planets of the Solar system like the Moon and Mars is triggering worldwide interest. Space biology, a discipline familiar so far only to a restricted community, is gaining momentum. Today’s space biology is a scientific discipline based on systematic studies carried out by renowned scientists. In this publication, some of the leaders in the field describe their work, ideas and findings. Space biologists are dealing with the behaviour of terrestrial life in the extraterrestrial environment, in particular in zero gravity. Several surprising and interesting phenomena have been discovered in 20 years of investigations in space laboratories. This began with so called “fishing” experiments, i.e. investigations trying to find out, without solid hypotheses, whether a biological system is altering its behavior when exposed to zero gravity. Of particular biotechnological interest is the ESA’s MAP initiative which aims to explore commercialization on the ISS. Today’s space biology is a scientific discipline based on systematic studies carried out by renowned scientists. Some of the leaders in the field describe their work, ideas and findings.
