The 4th of April is going to be a busy day in the sky above Saint-Hubert airport, Belgium. Indeed, LIDE Space will have the privilege to fly no less than 3 exciting scientific experiments!
The first experiment, called Tumors in Space, will be jointly organized by Dr. Tricia Larose (University of Oslo) and Dr. Vladimir Pletser (astronaut candidate and physicist at the University of Louvain). Its main goal is to assess how cancerous cells react when exposed to altered gravity and radiations, both conditions being ubiquitous during a space travel. This experiment holds great promise both for the preparation of future long-duration space travels and for the study of cancerous cells development. After the LIDE flights, Tumors in Space is in preparation for three spaceflights including one in the Chinese Space Station coordinated by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (31-day mission).
The second experiment, led by Dr. Julie Manon (UCLouvain), will study the fracture pattern in zero gravity. This experiment is in line with the research interest of Dr. Manon, who is focusing on the fracture risk of astronauts and fixation possibilities to promote healing in a hostile spatial environment. She conducted previous experiments while participating as an Analog Astronaut in a Mars simulation mission conducted at the Mars Desert Research Station (Utah, USA) in 2022.
The third experiment, led by Prof. Philippe Lefevre and Ms. Ioana Dimitrova (UCLouvain), consists in measuring cardiac signals as a function of gravity levels with the HeartKinetics Kino system.
These flights will be organized with the support of the CNVV (Centre National de Vol à Voile). Stay tuned and let’s hope for a CAVOK weather on April 4th!
