Life Sciences Space Science in the Twenty-First Century -- Imperatives for the Decades 1995 to 2015 (1988) / Chapter Skim
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1. Introduction
1. Introduction
Pages 1-7
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We cannot adapt to these conditions or protect ourselves from their effects without a sophisticated understanding of the underlying physiological responses. On spaceflights lasting for months, recycling wastes becomes economically attractive; on flights lasting for years, controlled ecological life support systems are imperative.
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The intellectual impact of exobiology and global biology will probably equal that of molecular biology. The four disciplines treated in this report exobiology, global biology, space biology, and space medicine—span an extremely broad range of intellectual subject matter and technology.
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Our understanding of the evolutionary relationships between living organisms and the planet is limited and based on local or regional data gathered over the years by groundbased observations. Spacecraft provide the means of obtaining a global perspective, that is, of looking at and measuring key phenomena globally and continuously.
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These include the exchange of trace gases between the biosphere and atmosphere, the effects of biomass burning, tropospheric chemical cycling, and stratospheric contamination. Earth-orbiting spacecraft offer the exciting prospect of monitoring environmental conditions relevant to certain disease outbreaks, such as malaria.
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Access to a rn~crogravity space station laboratory will facilitate research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in sensing forces as low as 0.001-g and subsequently transducing this signal to a neural or hormonal signal. A major challenge-to our understanding and mastery of these biological responses is to propagate selected species of higher plants and mammals through several generations at microgravity.
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This exposure could have disastrous effects on the central nervous system, because heavy ion radiation has recently been shown to inflict "single hit" damage, even death, on nondividing cells. The more general problem of the ability of human beings to thrive in a closed, stressful environment assumes novel importance and exigency with extended spaceflights.
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On the other hand, many of the instruments, as well as the strategies, of the global biologists are common to the earth scientists. Similarly, the section treating exobiology contains numerous cross-references to the field of planetary exploration.
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