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Space Tourist's Science Advisor Describes Shuttleworth's Experiments
By Interfax
posted: 10:23 am ET
15 April 2002
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BAIKONUR BAIKONUR. April 15 (Interfax-Kazakhstan) - Mark Shuttleworth, the space tourist from South Africa, will perform a number of biotechnological and medical experiments while on the International Space Station (ISS). During his stay on the ISS, Shuttleworth will monitor the development of animal cells under conditions of microgravity, Daniel Barry, professor at the University of Stellenbosch, who is Shuttleworth's scientific adviser, told Interfax. Six types of mice and sheep cells will be sent to the ISS in special incubators, Barry said. The cells and embryos were selected at the university and will be delivered to the Baikonur cosmodrome on Tuesday, he said. During his trip, Shuttleworth will study the environment of the cells, adding "various elements" to it, he said. Similar cells will be developed in an incubator on Earth. Scientists will then compare the results obtained on the ISS and on Earth. In addition, experiments on frozen cells received from the ISS will continue at the university in South Africa. Barry expressed hope that the experiments Shuttleworth will perform on the ISS will mark the beginning of scientific-space cooperation between South Africa and Russia, in particular, in the sphere of biotechnology. The launch of the Soyuz-U rocket booster carrying the piloted Soyuz TM-34 spaceship, which will fly to the ISS, is scheduled for April 25. The main crew will include Russian astronaut Yury Gidzenko (captain), Roberto Vittori (astronaut of the European Space Agency, board engineer), and Mark Shuttleworth (space tourist from South Africa). The main task of the mission will be to replace the Soyuz TM-33 rescue vehicle with a new Soyuz TM-34 vehicle. The pre-flight training of the main and backup crews is scheduled to start in Baikonur on April 20.
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