Main characteristics of biological components of developing life support system observed during the experiments aboard orbital complex MIR.

Since 1990, the orbital complex MIR has witnessed several incubator experiments for determination of spaceflight effects on embryogenesis of Japanese quail. First viable chicks who had completed the whole embryological cycle in MIR microgravity hatched out in 1990; it became clear that newborns would not be able to adapt to microgravity unaided. There were 8 successful incubations of chicks in the period from 1990 to 1999. In 1995-1997 the MIR-NASA space science program united Russian and US investigators. As a result, experiments Greenhouse-1 and 2 were performed with an effort to grow super dwarf wheat from seed to seed, and experiment Greenhouse-3 aimed at receiving two successive generations of Brassica rapa. But results of these experiments could not be used for definitive conclusions concerning effects of spaceflight on plant ontogenesis and, therefore, experiments Greenhouse-4 and 5 were staged within the framework of the Russian national space program. The experiments finally yielded wheat seeds. Some of the seeds was left on the space station and, being planted, gave viable seedlings which, in their turn, produced the second crop of space seeds.

Biological studies of Chlorella pyrenoidosa (strain LARG-1) cultures grown under space flight conditions.

This paper reports data from an electron microscopic analysis of Chlorella pyrenoidosa (LARG-1) cultures after five days of growth in the dark on a semiliquid mineral/glucose medium in the IFS-2 device on board the Soyuz 27-Salyut 6-Soyuz 28 orbital research complex (Soviet-Czechoslovak experiment "Chlorella-1"). For space flight of five days duration the ultrastructural cellular organization of the flight and control cultures were similar. This testifies to normal cell function.