Oser H
European Space Agency, Microgravity Office, Paris, France.
Adv Space Res. 1984;4(10):265-75. doi: 10.1016/0273-1177(84)90251-5.
With the advent of Europe's commitment to contribute the European Space Agency (ESA) to the NASA Space Transportation System (STS) by means of the Spacelab programme, a new area for research opportunities on Life Sciences has been created for the European scientific community. Although considered as a young and new discipline, the goals of Life Sciences research in space had soon been defined by the ESA advising Life Sciences Working Group in the beginning of 1977. The programme proposals of the various subdisciplines concentrated on the advantageous use of the microgravity environment, to study in more depth the gravity relevance of biological systems. It included, however, also the use of other factors during space flight which cannot be reproduced or adequately simulated on the ground: cosmic radiation in its total spectrum, particularly HZE particles, solar and UV radiation, vacuum, and the combination of radiation and weightlessness, etc. On this basis, call for proposals in the various subdisciplines resulted in experiments also in the field of radiation biology which were flown on the Spacelab 1 mission and which were selected for later missions. In particular, ESA is providing the science community with mission opportunities on Spacelab, either European or International, with platforms to be launched by STS, and with so called multi-user facilities (e.g. Biorack). Typically, the experiments will be the responsibility of the scientists, the integration and mission phase the responsibility of ESA. Both mission definition and experiment selection rests with the ultimate decision of the responsible ESA Programme Board. A further description of missions envisioned, the Spacelab facility, platforms, multi-user facilities and areas of research applicable to radiobiology will be given. ESA's continuing interaction with the scientific community through the Life Sciences Working Group, and the advice on future programmes will be stressed as a vital factor contributing to a European Life Sciences Programme in Space.
随着欧洲通过太空实验室计划参与美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的航天飞机运输系统（STS），欧洲科学界迎来了生命科学研究的新机遇。尽管生命科学被视为一门年轻的新学科，但欧洲航天局（ESA）生命科学咨询工作组在1977年初就很快确定了太空生命科学研究的目标。各个子学科的计划提案都集中在微重力环境的优势利用上，以更深入地研究生物系统与重力的相关性。不过，它也包括在太空飞行期间利用其他在地面无法再现或充分模拟的因素：全光谱的宇宙辐射，特别是高电荷重离子（HZE）粒子、太阳辐射和紫外线辐射、真空以及辐射与失重的组合等。在此基础上，各个子学科的提案征集活动催生了辐射生物学领域的实验，这些实验搭载在太空实验室1号任务中飞行，并被选用于后续任务。特别是，ESA为科学界提供了在欧洲或国际太空实验室上进行任务的机会、由航天飞机发射的平台以及所谓的多用户设施（如生物舱）。通常，实验由科学家负责，整合和任务阶段由ESA负责。任务定义和实验选择最终由负责的ESA计划委员会决定。本文将进一步描述设想的任务、太空实验室设施、平台、多用户设施以及适用于放射生物学的研究领域。ESA通过生命科学工作组与科学界持续互动以及对未来计划的建议，将被强调为推动欧洲太空生命科学计划的关键因素。
