Morey-Holton E R, Hill E L, Souza K A
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, CA 94035-1000, USA.
J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2007 Jan-Mar;7(1):17-25.
Animals have been a critical component of the spaceflight program since its inception. The Russians orbited a dog one month after the Sputnik satellite was launched. The dog mission spurred U.S. interest in animal flights. The animal missions proved that individuals aboard a spacecraft not only could survive, but also could carry out tasks during launch, near-weightlessness, and re-entry; humans were launched into space only after the early animal flights demonstrated that spaceflight was safe and survivable. After these humble beginnings when animals preceded humans in space as pioneers, a dynamic research program was begun using animals as human surrogates aboard manned and unmanned space platforms to understand how the unique environment of space alters life. In this review article, the following questions have been addressed: How did animal research in space evolve? What happened to animal development when gravity decreased? How have animal experiments in space contributed to our understanding of musculoskeletal changes and fracture repair during exposure to reduced gravity?
自太空飞行计划启动以来，动物一直是该计划的重要组成部分。在人造地球卫星“斯普特尼克”号发射一个月后，俄罗斯人将一只狗送入轨道。这次狗的太空飞行任务激发了美国对动物太空飞行的兴趣。动物太空飞行任务证明，航天器上的个体不仅能够存活，而且能够在发射、接近失重和重返大气层期间执行任务；只有在早期动物太空飞行证明太空飞行是安全且可生存的之后，人类才被送入太空。在动物作为先驱者先于人类进入太空的这些 humble beginnings（此处可能有误，推测为humble beginnings，意为“这些不起眼的开端”）之后，一个充满活力的研究计划开始了，该计划利用动物作为载人及无人太空平台上的人类替代者，以了解太空独特环境如何改变生命。在这篇综述文章中，探讨了以下问题：太空动物研究是如何发展的？重力降低时动物发育发生了什么？太空动物实验如何有助于我们理解在暴露于微重力环境期间的肌肉骨骼变化和骨折修复？
