Yi to Conduct 18 Experiments During 12-Day Trip
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
In her historic mission to space, Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon is accompanied by two Russian pilots Sergey Volkov and Oleg Kononenko as well as a swarm of 1,000 fruit flies.
The flies are part of experimental materials Yi is carrying with her to the International Space Station (ISS). She is scheduled to perform 18 scientific experiments in the zero-gravity environment once the Soyuz spacecraft safely docks at the ISS on Thursday.
Yi will spend five minutes everyday to monitor the conditions of 1,000 flies, as the changes in gravity and other environmental conditions are expected to influence the flies' activities, and could even cause mutations in their genes. They are being carried in a special air-conditioned container box, which took two years to develop by researchers of Konkuk University.
The fruit fly is one of the most commonly used species in biology and genetics, because of its high fecundity and short lifecycle of about 30 days; the Konkuk scientists think that the flies' seven-day stay at the ISS will be equivalent to 10 years of non-gravity life for humans.
The experiments include studies of the germination, growth and mutation of plants in space, the effects of a space environment on the heart, and the effects of gravity change on eye pressure and shape of Yi's face. With a specially designed three-dimensional camera, Yi will take six shots of her face everyday to see how it swells in the void of gravity.
She will also watch the creation and movement of the dust storm from China to Korea. One of her unique missions is to find a solution to reduce noise in the ISS. To prevent fire, the ISS is built without soundproofing insulation so the crew is exposed to extreme noise and vibration coming from machines. During her stay, Yi will measure the noise level in each compartment of the ISS and will seek methods to alleviate it.
The experiments will keep Yi busy during her one-week stay in the ISS. The whole process will be videotaped by Yi and the other crew and the result will be later used in science classes at schools in Korea.
Having obtained her Ph.D. degree in bioscience from Korea's top science school KAIST during her stay in Star City in Russia in February, Yi is considered well qualified for the role of science mission specialist, which is her official title. Upon being selected as the astronaut, she and her backup Ko San have been hired by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and are expected to be space ambassadors of the institute.
Yi said she wants to continue to contribute to science even after returning to Earth.
``I will do my best to support science in Korea and space programs in Korea,'' she said during Monday's press conference.
Part of the equipments to be used by Yi already arrived at the ISS in February via Russia's Progress unmanned space freighter.
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr