/ world today news/ Academician Orlov: it is necessary for cosmonauts on another planet to be able to continue their lineage.
Thanks to experiments in orbit, people will be able to stay in space for a long time, industry representatives said at the Third International Conference “Science for the ISS”, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the station. The experts talked about the most important research results and discussed the prospects that the Russian Orbital will provide.
ISS Medicine for Near and Deep Space
The first module of the International Space Station was the Russian Zarya Functional Cargo Block. It was launched on November 20, 1998 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
“The Americans sent the module into orbit a few days after ours. I was assigned to the first assembly team of the shuttle. We had to jump the two modules, open the hatches and perform the first maintenance of this small station,” recalls pilot-cosmonaut Sergey Krikalyov, executive director of the manned space programs of the state corporation “Roscosmos.”
The creation of the ISS in itself is a great technical experiment, he emphasizes. No one has ever attempted to launch modules simultaneously into space.
“Normally, models are created on the ground first. But here a lot of things were done theoretically, and the modules met for the first time in orbit. Developing technologies for international interaction – so that everything works as a single organism – was a difficult task,” the cosmonaut continues.
As soon as the first crew arrived in orbit, they immediately began to prepare medical experiments. Many of them have continued continuously for many years, started at the Mir station and will continue at ROS – the Russian Orbital Station, which will replace the ISS.
“That’s right. Everyone’s body is different, and to get a lasting result, you need to collect statistics,” explains Krikalyov.
The lion’s share of the ISS experiments are carried out by the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“Thanks to this work, a person can be in weightlessness for a long time and return to Earth healthy,” says academician Lev Zeleni, scientific director of the Institute for Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where the conference is being held. In support of his words, he cited the “indecent” story of an American astronaut, who after his return to Earth, his girlfriend flew straight to Moscow. “That a person returning from space wants a lot is a credit to our doctors,” adds the scientist.
“What Lev Matveevich called an obscene story is a completely normal situation for doctors. We work to ensure that cosmonauts, once on another planet, for example, on the Moon, feel good not only in terms of functionality and reserves, but also with from the point of view of reproduction The prospect of long-distance space flights is a topic we are working on,” says Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Orlov, director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It’s the subject of a series of ground-based experiments looking at how spacecraft control skills degrade after a long flight and how an astronaut would normally feel after landing on another planet. “No one will meet him there, and the person must be self-sufficient,” Sergey Krikalyov explains the essence of the work.
In just 25 years, 86 fundamental medical and biological researches and 20 applied researches in 19 fields have been carried out at the ISS. Academician Orlov named such figures in his report. Many works have entered clinical practice on Earth – for example, the medical suit “Regent”, the walking simulator “Corvit” for the rehabilitation of neurological patients.
Telemedicine was originally developed to assist spaceflight and is now being implemented as a service in clinics. Mobile hospitals have also been established for emergency situations during astronaut landings. They are now in the service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Printing organs in orbit, breeding birds
The first non-medical experiment on the ISS was a plasma crystal. Its idea is academician Vladimir Fortov. The scientists created a dusty plasma and observed its behavior in zero gravity. According to the theory, it should exhibit the properties of a crystal or a liquid. This was confirmed experimentally, and although these studies did not give immediate practical results, in the future they will make it possible to create nanomaterials with unique properties.
But another physical experiment of the United Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences – the “Coulomb crystal” has already led to important practical results. Its essence is to capture diamagnetic particles in a magnetic trap. This is easier to do in zero gravity conditions. Ideas for 3D bioprinting were born from this research, and in 2018 Russian scientists were the first in the world to print thyroid glands from living mouse cells in orbit. And in March 2024, the ISS will be the first to print hollow organs from living cells – vessels, ureters, tracheas.
Another important physics experiment is “Mermaid”, which was carried out in 2009-2012. It is a series of very high-resolution spectrometers for monitoring greenhouse gases. According to Academician Lev Zeleny, they plan to send the device to Mars to determine traces of methane in the planet’s atmosphere. The ISS acted as a training ground. This work will be continued by the Dryad experiment. The scientist also noted the successful Chibis-M project, a microsatellite launched by the ISS to study lightning at different ranges.
An experiment to breed Japanese quail will begin in orbit next year. This was announced by the chairman of the KNS of Roscosmos, Alexander Bloshenko. “An incubator and bird eggs will be delivered to the station, which will go through a complete cycle – from maturation to hatching. We will look at how weightlessness affects the reproductive function of the body,” noted a representative of “Roscosmos.”
The Coordinating Board has eight sections that accept requests to conduct scientific research on the ISS. Currently, scientists are carrying out 116 targeted works. The launch of the Science module will expand the possibilities for researchers. However, according to Bloshenko, the time to prepare for experiments is very long: on average, it takes nine years or even twelve from conception to birth on board. From 2016 to 2020, Roscosmos financed all space experiments at the ground development stage and planned to produce 121 flight models, but only 47 were eventually made.
Targeted work has already begun to be formulated in ROS to approve the program and start ground training in 2025. TsNIIMASH received 57 applications. “Most of them are a continuation of the ISS research,” noted Alexander Bloshenko. He urged scientists not to repeat themselves and to set new ambitious goals.
The operational life of the ISS has been extended until 2028, but as early as 2027, Roscosmos plans to launch the new Russian orbital station from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. This was announced by the chief designer of the piloted programs, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Solovyov. The station will have high power, a high-speed communication link, an open architecture and the ability to control a swarm of small spacecraft. A space tug is being developed for it. By 2031, ROS should be operating in orbit in a minimal configuration. The term of operation will be at least 50 years.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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