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Exploring worlds beyond Earth will require terrestrial life to survive and ultimately flourish in environments fundamentally different to those in which it has evolved. The effects of deep space and conditions on the surface of other worlds must be studied and compared to the Earth, to understand and reduce the risks to explorers, and to make full use of the broad research opportunities and scientific benefits offered by such unique environments. We are only beginning to learn about adaptations to the space environment -- key changes in terrestrial life may only be revealed over complete life cycles and across multiple generations beyond Earth. The demands and potential risks of exploring and inhabiting other worlds necessitate a detailed understanding of these changes at all levels of biological organization, from the smallest genetic alteration to impacts on critical elements of reproduction, development and aging.

Studying the biology of terrestrial life on another world will offer unique opportunities for understanding the fundamental nature of life in the universe. Still accelerating revolutions in biotechnology, information technology, robotics, and super-miniaturization now make it possible to conduct detailed research into opportunities inherent in living on other worlds. Although close to Earth, the Moon includes features found nowhere else in the solar system. Different gravity, radiation stresses, magnetic fields and day/night cycles are among the biologically relevant forces of interest on the Moon. Results from studying different organisms in the lunar environment over complete life cycles and multiple generations would provide the first comparative, biological reference data of the transition of life from one world to another, and foundational information for evaluating potential health and safety problems on a Mars mission.

Contamination control is a critical safety requirement imposed on experiments flying on board the Spacelab. The General Purpose Work Station, a Spacelab support facility used for life sciences space flight experiments, is designed to remove volatile compounds from its internal airpath and thereby minimize contamination of the Spacelab. This is accomplished through the use of a large, multi-stage filter known as the Trace Contaminant Control System. Many experiments planned for the Spacelab require the use of toxic, volatile fixatives in order to preserve specimens prior to post-flight analysis. The NASA-Ames Research Center SLS-2 payload, in particular, necessitated the use of several toxic, volatile compounds in order to accomplish the many inflight experiment objectives of this mission. A model was developed based on earlier theories and calculations which provides conservative predictions of the resultant concentrations of these compounds given various spill scenarios.

Spacelab-J was an international Spacelab mission with numerous innovative Japanese and American materials and life science experiments. Two of the Spacelab-J experiments were designed over a period of more than a decade by a team from NASA-Ames Research Center. The Frog Embryology Experiment investigated and is helping to resolve a century-long quandary on the effects of gravity on amphibian development. The Autogenic Feedback Training Experiment, flown on Spacelab-J as part of a multi-mission investigation, studied the effects of Autogenic Feedback Therapy on limiting the effects of Space Motion Sickness on astronauts. Both experiments employed the use of a wide variety of specially designed hardware to achieve the experiment objectives.