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Animal habitats used aboard the Space Station can apply principles of microsatellite design to extend their useful capability through more efficient resource utilization. A study was conducted to investigate the potential of microsatellites as analogs for animal habitats in space. Comparisons between satellites currently under development at Stanford University and habitats developed at NASA's Ames Research Center were made to assess the feasibility of this concept. This research explores the notion that common design considerations apply to both microsatellites and animal habitats for space, and that an understanding of these parallels can be used to design more efficient animal habitats in terms of resource utilization.

This study examines the current state of the art in rodent habitats as well as the next generation of rodent habitats currently under development at NASAs Ames Research Center. Space Shuttle missions are currently limited in duration to just over two weeks. In contrast to this, future life science missions aboard the Space Station may last months or even years. This will make resource conservation and utilization critical issues in the development of rodent habitats for extended microgravity missions. Emphasis is placed on defining rodent requirements for extended space flights of up to 90 days, and on improving habitability and extending the useful performance life of rodent habitats.

A study was performed at NASA's Ames Research Center to determine if it were possible to accurately predict temperatures inside the Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) when flown in the Space Shuttle Middeck. The investigation considered flight data from 16 AEMs distributed over 9 missions for a total of 20 individual data points. Preliminary results indicate that accurate prediction of AEM internal temperature as a function of Shuttle Middeck ambient temperature is infeasible due to the large number of variables present in the Shuttle Middeck environment. It was determined that Ground Control AEMs for future missions would be operated outside the Orbital Environment Simulator (OES), with temperature set to a predetermined mean based on past flight data. This procedure was validated during the recent STS-72 (NIH.R3) mission.

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.