Posted on October 5, 2005 at 2:35 p.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Understanding the effects of near-zero gravity on vascular function and the body’s immune response is the aim of a new piece of space hardware designed and developed by a team of UAB scientists and engineers. The first test flight for the bioreactor is set for October 13 aboard a modified Boeing 727 aircraft.
“The hardware provides real-time bio-imaging of blood and tissue samples, which will allow researchers to monitor, for the first time, the effects of microgravity on the way blood cells function,” said Rob Rouleau, BSME, project manager with UAB’s Center for Biophysical Science and Engineering (CBSE).
This will provide scientists with a better understanding of the effect of microgravity on immune response. “It has been known for some time that space flight weakens the immune system,” said Dennis Kucik, M.D., Ph.D., UAB associate professor of pathology and chief of pathology service at the Birmingham VA Medical Center. “Until now, this hasn’t been an issue, because if an astronaut gets sick, he or she can come home. But, it becomes an issue when considering long-duration space flight, such as a trip to Mars.”
The project is funded in part by NASA’s Space Product Development Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and through a NASA Research Announcement with NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. “Overall, funding for the project totals about $1 million over a three-year period,” Rouleau said.
Immune system changes associated with space flight have been studied for years, but these changes still are not well understood. “It appears space flight causes a defect in the way white blood cells work,” Kucik said. “It makes them less efficient at fighting disease.”
The new hardware will allow scientists to test blood samples in space yielding real-time data of changes that occur in blood cell functioning. “It will help us understand how white blood cells respond to a lack of gravity,” Kucik said.
The test flight, to be conducted from JSC, will include a series of dives in the aircraft, also known as the “vomit comet.” The CBSE hardware, operated during the flight by Kucik, Rouleau, and Lisa Smith, CBSE senior systems engineer, is one of ten experiments from around the country on this flight.
“During the flight, the environment in the aircraft mimics the microgravity environment of space and allows us test how well the hardware functions,” Rouleau said. “This will allow us to test and verify the feasibility of the equipment in microgravity conditions without sending it into space.”
Design and development of the hardware brings together UAB researchers with expertise in immunology with CBSE’s engineering team, experienced in constructing flight hardware for NASA’s space shuttle and International Space Station programs.
“CBSE has flown 62 experiments on 43 space shuttle flights, which is more than any other organization outside of NASA,” Rouleau said. “Our expertise in flight hardware combined with Dr. Kucik’s immunology expertise make UAB the place to do this.”