Aboard space station, science takes off.

• Author: Jean, Grace V.
• Position: INSIDE SCIENCE + TECHNOLOGY

* With the successful launch and installation of Japan's first manned space facility last summer, scientists are discovering increased opportunities to conduct experiments aboard the international space station. Research efforts already are underway on the new "Kibo" laboratory, and agencies around the globe--including the Defense Department--have planned for hundreds more studies in the coming years.

A crew aboard the space shuttle Discovery delivered the 32,000-pound Japanese experiment module to the station in June. At 36.7 feet long and 14.4 feet in diameter, the pressurized module is about the size of a tour bus and contains 23 racks, including 10 for experiments. Kibo, which means "hope" in Japanese, joins two other labs already in orbit--the U.S. module Destiny, and the European facility, Columbus.

"The laboratory on orbit provides a unique capability that we don't have on the ground, which is microgravity," says Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, who helped install Kibo. "We're hoping that would provide new insights, new data points in various research areas," he says.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in August began a series of fluid physics experiments, and it plans to run other investigations, ranging from crystal growth to microgravity effects on human, animal and plant cells. A space seed experiment will yield better understanding of gravity's role in regulating plants' life cycles and provide information for improving the productivity of space crops, says Hoshide.

Japan is sharing about half of Kibo's facilities with the United States, says Yoshinori Yoshimura, director of the agency's Washington office.

In April, NASA will commence a series of 93 experiments on orbit, including a materials processing trial in the new module. "We're seeing a great increase in the number of experiments going on because of the additional facilities," says Julie Robinson, NASA program scientist for the space station, which will host its first six-person crew beginning in May. That crew will dedicate more time to experiments than previous teams, which focused on assembling and maintaining the station.

Hopes are high for the expanded research facilities. "A key is to learn what we need on the space station so that we're ready to leave Earth orbit to safely explore the solar system," says Robinson. The United States is planning to return a man to the moon and to send humans to Mars. Research into new materials and...