AGEING experiment is a part of the science research program to be performed aboard the ISS RS by Pedro Duque, ESA astronaut of Spanish nationality in the frame of the SSM SERVANTES Project. The European Space Agency is a customer for the preparation and implementation of the scientific program.

USED SCIENCE HARDWARE:

• Aquarius-B hardware,
  including transport container-incubator, which accommodates a set of AGE biocontainers;

• AGE Biocontainers,
  presenting a set of reservoirs with three different strains with different phenotypes of young flies Drosophila;
• Biological transport container BIO-01,
  to upload and return biocontainers to and from the ISS RS;
• Temperature data logger

SUPPORT ITEMS:

• Camcorder SONY DSR PD-150P

PURPOSE:

Study in more detail of the mechanisms of the abnormal motility response encountered in Microgravity by young flies with consequences on the posterior aging response of the flies. For this purpose, three different fly strains with different phenotypes, in four configurations will be used. The three strains are a long-lived strain, a short-lived strain and a strain showing an abnormal gravitropic response on the Ground. Recently hatched flies of the three phenotypes will be exposed to the Space Environment.

OBJECTIVES:

Video-recording of the in flight motility of flies (young flies Drosophila) in the different experimental containers in a flight on the ISS RS.

EXPERIMENT RESULTS:

• Information about motility and behavior of flies (young flies Drosophila Melanogaster) recorded in video tapes.
• AGE Biocontainers