NASA Getting Fruit Flies Ready For Space Mission
- 10 years ago
In order to research the effects of space on a human's immune system, NASA is sending fruit flies to live on the International Space Station.
Fruit flies are generally thought of as the flying nuisance found buzzing around fresh produce. Now, they're playing a huge role in research for NASA.
Scheduled to launch this month aboard the fifth SpaceX mission, the International Space Station will welcome aboard the Fruit Fly Lab-01.
The lab is being developed at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. They'll be kept in small containers that will both control their environment and allow astronauts to feed them without setting them free.
The immune systems of humans and fruit flies both function similarly and the insects will be utilized to examine the effects of space on the body's ability to resist disease and infections. In that environment, bacteria are prone to increase in strength while immune responses weaken.
Fruit flies also take up little space, even with new eggs hatching every few days. This allows scientists to conduct tests with high statistical rates.
In order to test the bugs' immunity in space, some of the food they're fed will contain an infection-causing microbe.
During the research, certain groups of flies will be exposed to the anti-gravity environment while others will remain encased in simulated gravity.
Cameras will record all their movement, specifically looking at their flight for indications of health.
Fruit flies are generally thought of as the flying nuisance found buzzing around fresh produce. Now, they're playing a huge role in research for NASA.
Scheduled to launch this month aboard the fifth SpaceX mission, the International Space Station will welcome aboard the Fruit Fly Lab-01.
The lab is being developed at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. They'll be kept in small containers that will both control their environment and allow astronauts to feed them without setting them free.
The immune systems of humans and fruit flies both function similarly and the insects will be utilized to examine the effects of space on the body's ability to resist disease and infections. In that environment, bacteria are prone to increase in strength while immune responses weaken.
Fruit flies also take up little space, even with new eggs hatching every few days. This allows scientists to conduct tests with high statistical rates.
In order to test the bugs' immunity in space, some of the food they're fed will contain an infection-causing microbe.
During the research, certain groups of flies will be exposed to the anti-gravity environment while others will remain encased in simulated gravity.
Cameras will record all their movement, specifically looking at their flight for indications of health.