1998
Space milestones
BIOBOX flies on Discovery
BIOBOX is used on the Shuttle Discovery’s STS-95 mission. For Kayser, this is another step on the journey from Russian capsules to Shuttle missions and life sciences research that will continue on the International Space Station.
John Glenn returns to space
At the age of 77, John Glenn returns to space aboard mission STS-95. Studies of ageing and physiological adaptation to spaceflight are among the mission’s scientific themes, in a research field closely related to Kayser’s Life Sciences activities.
Construction of the ISS begins
The launch of the Zarya module marks the start of the in-orbit assembly of the International Space Station, one of the largest scientific projects involving international cooperation ever undertaken.
Missions & Payloads
STS 95
Scientific mission of the Shuttle Discovery dedicated to microgravity research, with experiments hosted in the Spacehab module. It marks John Glenn’s return to space and includes studies of ageing and physiological adaptation to spaceflight.
BIOBOX 4
Version of ESA’s BIOBOX facility adapted for flight on the Space Shuttle, following previous use on the Russian Bion and Foton capsules. The automatic incubator hosts cell biology experiments in a temperature-controlled environment and allows samples exposed to microgravity to be compared with reference samples maintained on a 1 g centrifuge. The configuration can accommodate up to 24 containers in microgravity and 6 on the centrifuge. During STS-95, it is used mainly to study the growth and behaviour of human cells in microgravity, with particular attention to connective tissues and the skeletal system.
MOMO 2
MOMO 2, Morphological Transition and Model Substances. Second mission of the ESA facility dedicated to studying the directional solidification of materials in microgravity. The experiment uses a transparent mixture of succinonitrile and acetone which, during solidification, reproduces some behaviours typical of metal alloys, making the process directly observable. A CCD camera follows the evolution of the interface between the liquid and solid phases in real time. The aim is to understand how cellular microstructures form during solidification.