Achievements of Space Scientific Experiments Aboard SJ-8 Satellite

As scientific experiment payloads, microgravity experiments of fluid physics, life science,combustion science, physics and accelerator measurement were conducted on board the Chinese recoverable satellite SJ-8 during 18-day orbital flight. The experimental payloads and an experiment support system constituted the microgravity experiment system of the flight mission. This article has presented the briefs of the scientific achievements of these space experiments, the composition and performance of the Microgravity Experimental System (MES) and the general picture of the overall flight mission, respectively.     

Progress Report of Space Life Science in China

In the past two years, space life sciences research in China is characterized by a tendency toward integration of scientific and engineering resources in preparing and implementing advanced space programs. In the field of operational medicine, we carried out an international cooperated Head-Down Bed Rest (HDBR) experiment and investigated the effects of Chinese herbs compounds on astronaut's physiological functions. The effect of microgravity and its mechanisms were further studied from the level of physiology and biology. At the same time, state-level platform for ground and space experiment was established.     

Progress of Space Medicine Research in China

With the approaching of the Chinese Space Station (CSS) era, the focus of space medicine applications and related research has shifted to addressing the astronauts' health support in long-duration spaceflights, including nutrition, countermeasure against the physiological effects of weightlessness, medical monitoring and support, psychology status, etc., and accordingly the human experiments to simulate long-duration weightlessness have been carried out. Increasingly, basic research has been put forward in the key areas, such as space bone loss, cardiovascular dysfunction and the molecular mechanisms underlying radiobiological effects. Moreover, specific novel research fields, such as hypometabolism technology, were explored. The research projects in the field of space medicine experiment, as an important aspect of the Chinese Space Station's application, have been officially approved and launched.     

Preliminary results of space experiment: Implications for the effects of space radiation and microgravity on survival and mutation induction in human cells

In view of the concern for the health of astronauts that may one day journey to Mars or the Moon, we investigated the effect that space radiation and microgravity might have on DNA damage and repair. We sent frozen human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells to the International Space Station where they were maintained under frozen conditions during a 134-day mission (14 November 2008 to 28 March 2009) except for an incubation period of 8 days under 1G or μG conditions in a CO₂ incubator. The incubation period started after 100 days during which the cells had been exposed to 54 mSv of space radiation. The incubated cells were then refrozen, returned to Earth, and compared to ground control samples for the determination of the influence of microgravity on cell survival and mutation induction. The results for both varied from experiment to experiment, yielding a large SD, but the μG sample results differed significantly from the 1G sample results for each of 2 experiments, with the mean ratio of μG to 1G being 0.55 for the concentration of viable cells and 0.59 for the fraction of thymidine kinase deficient (TK⁻) mutants. Among the mutants, non-loss of zygosity events (point mutations) were less frequent (31%) after μG incubation than after 1G incubation, which might be explained by the influence of μG on cellular metabolic or physiological function. Additional experiments are needed to clarify the effect of μG interferes on DNA repair.