MSR145 on board the Swiss Air Force fighter aircraft for cell culture experiments under zero-gravity conditions
The University of Zurich and the Swiss Air Force have been jointly conducting a unique research project in space medicine since 2010. Here, weightlessness, which is created by flight maneuvers during regular military training flights, is used for research on human cells. The research team has developed a special "flying laboratory" for this purpose, which can be installed in an F-5E Tiger fighter jet of the German Air Force. The MSR145 data logger is a key component of this system.
Research in weightlessness and under space conditions is very limited, difficult to access, complex and cost-intensive. Anyone wishing to conduct research in weightlessness must either apply for experiments for the International Space Station (ISS), for research rockets or for parabolic flights. It often takes many months, sometimes even years, before the actual experiment can begin. Rapid and repeated experimental procedures, as are common and necessary in biomedicine, can therefore hardly be realized with the current repertoire of research possibilities in weightlessness.
Research in weightlessness with the flying ARES laboratory
With the ARES (Aircraft-based Reduced-gravity Experimental System) project, Prof. Dr. Dr. Oliver Ullrich from the University of Zurich and Captain Dr. Marc Studer, a professional military pilot in the Swiss Air Force, have taken a new approach: instead of the once-a-year large-scale experiment with long preparation times, their approach enables many small, quickly repeatable experiments with short preparation times.Similar to a normal laboratory on earth, experiments can now be carried out in days to weeks. The Air Force does not incur any additional costs as a result of this project, as the flight maneuver with extreme climbs and descents, during which weightlessness is created for 40 seconds, takes place at the beginning of a regular military training flight. During the parabolic maneuver, an experimental apparatus installed in the Tiger fighter jet carries out experiments with living human cells fully automatically. A special experimental apparatus was developed for this purpose, which allows the programmable and automated execution of six independent cell culture experiments on board.
Using a standardized parabolic manoeuvre, up to 45 seconds of weightlessness can be achieved with a quality of less than 0.05g in all axes. The researchers are focusing on the malfunction of the human immune system in weightlessness, one of the main problems of manned space flight. However, the experiments also help to understand whether cells only function correctly in the presence of gravity and why.
MSR145 mini data loggers as integral components of the experimental system's control unit
Two MSR145 data loggers continuously measure the accelerations in all three axes, as well as pressure and temperature, reliably and precisely during the flights. The MSR145 data loggers are also used in the standardization and training of parabolic manoeuvres by air force pilots. In addition, the data loggers are used to carefully monitor the temperature of the human cells transported from the University of Zurich to the Emmen military airfield.
In addition to the ARES research project, the MSR145 data logger is also used by the team of scientists at the University of Zurich to monitor acceleration in all three axes on parabolic flights with the Airbus A300 (Bordeaux-Merignac).