What's New for Feb 7, 2003

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 7 Feb 03   Washington, DC
 
1. STS-107: THE FINAL SHUTTLE SCIENCE MISSION.  This was to have 
been the last shuttle flight devoted to scientific research.  The 
plan was for the International Space Station to become a space 
science laboratory, with shuttles serving as a fleet of delivery 
trucks, ferrying supplies and crew members.  In the coming weeks 
and months, however, the Columbia investigation will move from 
the failure of the shuttle technology to the question of what the 
mission was meant to accomplish.  What was the science mission of 
Columbia?  Six of the 59 separate investigations were chosen by 
school children, such as spiders building webs in microgravity.  
Another 21 involved commercial agreements.  Let's take a look.
 
2. EAU DE MONEY: "SPACE IS JUST ANOTHER PLACE TO DO BUSINESS."  
That was the justification given by the Reagan White House for a 
space station.  Industry, however, was unwilling to invest a dime 
in the idea.  But, you ask, aren't there all these great spinoffs 
like Tang and Teflon and Velcro that came from the space program?  
No.  An internal NASA report, done for Dan Goldin in 1992, says 
it's an urban myth, concocted to sell products (WN 22 Jan 93), 
and NASA found it worked wonders at budget time.  One commercial 
experiment on Columbia involved the scent of a rose, which is 
supposedly altered when it blooms in microgravity.  The company, 
perfume giant International Flavors and Fragrances, claims that 
fragrances from STS-95 led to a perfume, Zen, and a body spray, 
Impulse.  Of course, the ads can say the aroma came from heaven 
by way of NASA.  Is it a truly fabulous scent?  It is to die for.
 
3. PROTEIN CRYSTALS: THE ONES GROWN IN SPACE ARE DIFFERENT.  They 
cost more...three orders of magnitude more.  We were surprised to 
find that Columbia had yet another commercial microgravity 
protein crystal growing experiment.  We assumed that had all died 
away after a National Research Council study, conducted at the 
request of NASA, concluded that the work had no significant 
impact and should be curtailed (WN 3 Mar 2000).  That confirmed 
warnings two years earlier from the American Society for Cell 
Biology (WN 17 Jul 98), which called for cancellation of the 
program (http://www.ascb.org/publicpolicy/nasareport.html).  A 
story in Science (14 May 99) had revealed that the supposedly 
space-grown crystals used to develop the flu drug were not grown 
in space.  They were actually grown in Australia, which may be 
upside down, but it's not in space.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY.  
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the
University or the American Physical Society, but they should be.
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