SpaceLife

Summer  School „Living with a star: basics in space life sciences“
Jana KVÍDEROVÁ, Institute of Botany AV ČR

On August 24 to 28, 2009, the  Summer  School „Living with a star: basics in space life sciences“ took place in Physikzentrum Bad Honnef (Germany).  The Summer school, excellently organized by Prof. Dr. Bernd Heber (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel) and Dr. Christine E. Hellwig (DLR), was intended as an entry lecture of the doctoral study program SpaceLife.

Physikzentrum Bad Honnef (Germany). Photo J. Kvíderová

This program was established in cooperation of DLR (Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfarht), Christian-Albrechts-Univerzität zu Kiel, Universität Bonn, RWTH  Aacheen, Deutsche Sporthochschule (DSHS) Univerzität Regensburg, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg and Charité-Univerzitätsmedizin Berlin. The aim of the program is to connect life science and the space research, more information can be found at project webpage.
During the Summer school, more than 30 lectures and student presentations concerning astrobiology, radiation biology, gravitational biology and space medicine could be heard.
The lecture hall, accommodation and other services were provided by Physikzentrum Bad Honnef. The participation fee of 400 € included also study materials and transportation to SeaLife v Königswinter, DLR/ESA centre a DSHS in Cologne.

Trip to SeaLife. Photo J. KvíderováThe lectures of the first day were focused on astrobiology, a new science about extraterrestrial life forms. The astrobiology is interested in all life processes beyond the Earth, from any microbial life in the Solar System to signals of intelligent being on the other edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. Astrobiology  is also connected with life on the Earth by solving basic biological questions, for example – how the life originated, or what  characteristics could had the last common ancestor of all living organisms . The lectures provided summary of state-of-the-art knowledge about life origin, history of life on the Earth, organisms in extreme environments, interplanetary transport of living microorganisms, astrobiological experiments in laboratories as well as in space and observation of space probes. Of course, the summary of the possibility of life on other bodies of the Solar System could not be omitted.

During following days, the lectures were focused on space biology and medicine, the science studying the effects of space flight conditions on living organisms, including humus. The space medicine lectures described not only adaptation of human body to microgravity and radiation, but also transport vehicles to low Earth orbit, the International Space Station and future plans for human spaceflight. The majority of the lectures paid attention to space radiation and radiation biology.  The very detailed lectures (from a biologist’s point of view) concerned movement of the charged particles in a magnetic field, magnetospheres of the Solar System planets and moons and their interactions with space radiation and solar wind. Although being the least part of the program, the gravitation biology lectures described the perception of gravity by plants and animals. The gravity perception reactions were described in green alga Chara and higher plant Arabidopsis. The lecture focused on evolution of gravity perception in animals was also interesting.

Visit of DLR. Photo J. Kvíderová

On the last day, the trip to DLR centre and DSHS in Cologne was planned. The visit of the Astronaut training centre and Rosetta flight control was the most exiting. During visit of the DSHS, one detailed visit of selected institute was possible, e.g. Institute of Biochemistry.