Tissue culturing upon the shuttle Mir

Aboard a space station, microgravity experiments are especially sensitive to vibration. A study using new sensors has measured vibration levels of normal work routines and how that may affect experiment processing. The study, begun in 1996 by Shannon Lucid aboard Mir, has measured much lower vibrations on Mir compared with data obtained during the U.S. Skylab program of the 1970s. This information is directly beneficial to the Space Station Program where it is being used to assess the potential impact of crew motion on the microgravity environment.

- The promise of tissue culturing in space has been dramatically advanced by work aboard the Mir. NASA was able to extend the duration of space tissue growth from 10 days to four months, with the successful culturing of cartilage cells in an onboard bioreactor. Wolf was a member of the research team that originally developed the bioreactor design at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.

- On Earth, tissue culturing is largely limited to two dimensions. In the space flight experiment, the tissue grew in a three-dimensional structure more like tissue in a living organism would grow. In addition to the scientific result of the experiment, NASA learned how to upgrade the facility for future use on Mir as well as on the Space Station.