space – Fluent in Science

Fruit flies in space

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to launch its new Fruit Fly Lab (FFL) to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2014 as part of a mission to assess the effects of microgravity and other aspects of prolonged space travel on the organisms. NASA hopes the mission will help scientists to understandContinueContinue reading “Fruit flies in space”

Of mice and microgravity

In the longest animal space journey yet undertaken, three male C57BL/J10 mice flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station and lived there for 91 days in a specially designed housing unit before returning to Earth on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The Italian Space Agency funded and organized the project to gatherContinueContinue reading “Of mice and microgravity”