◎ Lu Chengkuan, reporter of this newspaper
The selection of space experiment projects is mainly based on the cutting-edge hot topics and major needs at home and abroad to carry out scientific project demonstration and selection. For example, in the field of space life sciences, scientists plan corresponding research themes and experimental project groups to carry out space experiments in the direction of space life breeding, synthetic biological manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, and complex ecosystems.
Lv Congmin Deputy Chief Designer of Space Application System and Researcher of Space Application Engineering and Technology Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
On May 5, the Shenzhou 30 manned spacecraft was successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and the Shenzhou 3 astronaut crew for the first time included three types of astronauts: "space pilot, space flight engineer and payload expert", and it was also the first space flight of China's space flight engineer and payload expert. At the same time, with the Shenzhou 5 manned spacecraft, there are also experimental materials for 23 life science experimental projects. The experimental materials weighed about 6.95 kilograms and weighed about 6 liters, including <> custom-made cargo kits.
Why do life science experiments in space? Lv Congmin, deputy chief designer of space application system and researcher of the Space Application Engineering and Technology Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, explained: "Life is one of the most complex forms of material existence, and studying human and various biological responses under the conditions of microgravity, cosmic radiation and magnetic field changes unique to space is an important way to deeply explore the nature of life phenomena, and it is also the basis for human beings to achieve long-term space exploration activities. ”
Nematodes, Arabidopsis thaliana become "regulars" in space
Following the Shenzhou 4 manned mission to launch the three-module scientific experiment cabinet of the space station, with the arrival of the Shenzhou <> crew, the experimental module will once again usher in nematode experiments. In the experimental project "Research on the Effect of DNA Damage Repair and Apoptosis in the Development Process of Nematodes Caused by Space Radiation Exposure", a nematode chip experiment box containing four nematodes was brought into space.
Researchers will use a fully automatic microfluidic system to observe the on-orbit development and damage effects of nematode individuals, and analyze the effects of long-term radiation exposure on DNA damage repair and germ cell apoptosis, which is expected to contribute to revealing the mechanism of long-term orbital organisms against space radiation damage.
In the experimental project of "Key Technologies for the Science and Application of Space Radiation Damage Assessment", nematodes are also the "protagonists". Lv Congmin introduced that the main scientific objectives of the experiment are to mine biomarkers for space radiation damage assessment and risk early warning, analyze the quality factors of space radiation damage, construct a space radiation damage assessment model, and provide important technical support for the development of space radiation health risk assessment system with independent intellectual property rights.
At the same time, in the experimental project "Biomechanical study of the influence of microgravity environment on cell-cell interactions and cell growth", 6 biomechanical sample cells were ascended to the space station, of which 2 loaded with hepatocytes and 4 loaded with hepatocytes/endothelial cells. "This experiment aims to understand the biomechanical characteristics and mechano-biological coupling process of hepatic tissue cells under microgravity, as well as the effect of gravity changes on cell life activities; Development of new experimental techniques for dynamic culture of spatial cell-tissue based on biomechanics. Lu Congmin said.
Arabidopsis thaliana, the "resident guest" of biological experiments and the favorite model plant of scientists, also flew into space again with Shenzhou 3. Researchers will use wild type, three mutants and transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana to study the molecular network of spatial microgravity environment to regulate plant cell structure and function, and reveal the signal transduction mechanism and regulatory network of plants to perceive the microgravity environment.
In addition, there is also an experimental project "Molecular Evolution Research on the Co-origin of Proteins and Nucleic Acids and Codon Origin" containing 8 nucleic acid experimental units, which also flew into space with Shenzhou <>. This experiment will combine amino acids, nucleotides and phosphorus for the first time in the world to explore the origin of codons; The influence of gravity effect on the origin of codons was investigated; Investigate the relationship between the gravity effect and the evolution of life; It provides an important scientific basis for the theoretical system of the chemical origin of life and the search for habitable planets for extraterrestrial life.
Lv Congmin said that space science and application projects involve many fields, and the characteristics of payloads are also different, and the deep participation of the payload experts of the Shen 16 crew in these on-orbit experiments can greatly improve the efficiency of on-orbit scientific experiments, simplify the design of scientific experiment devices, and give full play to people's independent judgment, decision-making and processing capabilities.
Experiments revolve around hot directions and major needs
So, compared with the space experiment of Shenzhou XV upward, what are the characteristics of Shenzhou 16's upward space experiment?
"The space experiment projects of Shenzhou 15 and Shenzhou 16 are mainly life science experiments, and they are all experiments using space microgravity and radiation conditions. The arrangement of the scientific program of each mission is mainly based on the uplink resource conditions of the spacecraft, the downlink resources and the readiness of the scientific project. Lu Congmin explained.
At the same time, Lv Congmin emphasized that most space life science experimental projects need to prepare, load, integrate and install samples at the launch site, in order to maintain the activity of biological samples and minimize the impact of ground gravity conditions on experimental results.
Why scientific experiments in space? What experiments are carried out in space, and what factors determine them? "The selection of experimental projects is mainly based on the cutting-edge hot directions and major needs at home and abroad to carry out scientific project demonstration and selection." Lv Congmin said that for example, in the field of space life sciences, scientists plan corresponding research themes and experimental project groups to carry out space experiments in the face of international frontiers such as space life breeding, synthetic biology manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, and complex ecosystems, and people's health needs.
In the field of microgravity physics science, facing the frontier fields of active soft matter, preparation of new materials for important applications, complex plasma, supercritical combustion and other frontier fields and major national needs, the space application system has planned key research directions including fluid physics and thermophysics, combustion science, material science, basic physics and so on.
In the field of space astronomy and earth science, aiming at internationally recognized major scientific issues such as dark matter, cosmic ray origin, and planetary origin and evolution of the solar system, Space Applications System will plan to carry out long-term space observation and scientific data processing.
In addition, the space application system also aims at new raw materials, key components independent controllability, on-orbit manufacturing and construction and other key technologies to support the implementation of future space missions, and plans research topics in the field of new space application technology research. (Science and Technology Daily)