In this work, rising of a single bubble in a quiescent liquid under microgravity condition was simulated. The related unsteady incompressible full Navier-Stokes equations were solved using a conventional finite difference method with a structured staggered grid. The interface was tracked explicitly by connected marker points via hybrid front capturing and tracking method. One field approximatio...

Cerebral arterial remodeling is one of the critical factors in the occurrence of postspaceflight orthostatic intolerance. We hypothesize that large-conductance calcium-activated K(+) (BK(Ca)) channels in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) may play an important role in regulating cerebrovascular adaptation during microgravity exposure. The aim of this work was to investigate whether activation...

Chronic microgravity may modify adaptations of the leg circulation to gravitational pressures. We measured resting calf compliance and blood flow with venous occlusion plethysmography, and arterial blood pressure with sphygmomanometry, in seven subjects before, during, and after spaceflight. Calf vascular resistance equaled mean arterial pressure divided by calf flow. Compliance equaled the slo...

Microgravity experiments on flame spread over thermally-thick fuels were conducted using foam fuels to obtain low density and thermal conductivity, and thus large spread rate (Sf) over thermally-thick fuels compared to dense fuels such as PMMA. This scheme enabled meaningful results to be obtained even in 2.2 second drop tower experiments. It was found that, in contrast conventional understandi...

The aim of the present work was to investigate the alterations in nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression and nitrate and nitrite (NOx) content of different arteries from simulated microgravity rats. Male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to either a control group or simulated microgravity group. For simulating microgravity, animals were subjected to hindlimb unweighting (HU) for 20 days. Diffe...

Sleep studies conducted during the STS-90 Neurolab mission are explored. The relationship between sleep, melatonin, and circadian phase is reviewed. The study contained both sleep and awake components. The objectives of the sleep component were to test five hypotheses: that circadian rhythms of core body temperature and urinary melatonin are synchronized to required sleep-wake schedules, that s...

The ability of aquatic vertebrates to maintain their position requires integration of visual and vestibular sensory information. To understand better how aquatic animals integrate such information, we measured the optomotor behaviour of Xenopus laevis tadpoles raised in growth chambers in microgravity (< 10(-3)g), normal gravity (1 g), hypergravity (3 g) and on a slowly rotating clinostat (simu...

Biomineralized tissues are widespread in animals. They are essential elements in skeletons and in statocysts. The function of both can only be understood with respect to gravitational force, which has always been present. Therefore, it is not astonishing to identify microgravity as a factor influencing biomineralization, normally resulting in the reduction of biomineralized materials. All known...

Closely associated European teams are engaged in microgravity research on aqueous and metal foams in the framework of two MAP projects from ESA. They deploy a wide range of techniques in terrestrial experiments and are experienced in the design and execution of microgravity experiments. We outline their recent achievements and present plans