Results of space experiments

Life science research in space was started in Europe with the first Biostack experiment flown onboard Apollo 16 in 1972. Biostack was designed to investigate the biological effects of single heavy ions of cosmic radiation. Among several undertakings towards this goal, the Biostack achieved the highest precision in the determination of the spatial correlation of the observed biological response of single test organisms to the passage of single heavy ions, which is the mandatory requirement. It also provided information on the influence of additional spaceflight factors, such as microgravity, on radiation effects and measurements of the spectrum of charge and energy of the cosmic radiation. The experiment was performed as an international cooperation effort. This report gives a summary of the biological data accumulated in this and the follow-on experiments of the Biostack program.Invited paper presented at the International Symposium on Heavy Ion Research: Space, Radiation Protection and Therapy, Sophia-Antipolis, France, 21–24 March 1994