| Oklahoma City professor sends project on space
shuttle
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A UMNS photo courtesy of Oklahoma City University
Kent
Buchanan (right) poses in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis along
with co- investigators Michael Schurr and Chery Nickerson.
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| United
Methodist related Oklahoma City University biology Professor Kent
Buchanan (right) poses in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis along with
co-investigators Michael Schurr and Chery Nickerson. Buchanan and the
team are investigating a life science project aboard Atlantis, which
docked at the International Space Station Sept. 11. A UMNS photo
courtesy of Oklahoma City University. Photo #06-1079. Accompanies UMNS
story #550. 9/14/06 |
Sept. 14, 2006
By United Methodist News Service*
A professor at a United Methodist-related college is participating in
activities aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, which docked with the
International Space Station on Sept. 11.
Kent Buchanan, a biology professor at Oklahoma City University, sent a
“life science experiment” to space to investigate the effect of space flight
on microbes—microscopic organisms, particularly bacteria that can cause
disease. Buchanan’s research is on microbial gene expression and virulence.
He is one of four scientists studying organisms on the shuttle.
The group received a $1 million grant from NASA for the work about five
years ago. Several organisms are being tested; Buchanan’s focus through
the Candida Project is on a microbe called Candida albicans.
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A UMNS photo courtesy of Oklahoma City University
Candida Project personnel perform quality control on the flight hardware loaded with the microbes.
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| Candida
Project personnel (from left) Chassidy Johnson, Tim Hammond, and Kent
Buchanan and Bioserve Space Technologies personnel Carla Goulart and
Mark Rupert, spaceflight payload integration, are performing quality
control on the flight hardware loaded with Candida albicans and growth
media. Candida albicans is one of a number of microbe types that are
being used in experiments on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which went into
space on Sept 9. Hammond is a biology professor at United
Methodist-related Oklahoma City University. A UMNS photo courtesy of
Oklahoma City University. Photo #06-1080. Accompanies UMNS story #550.
9/14/06 |
Buchanan and his team prepared for the space shuttle launch for two and a
half years. Prior to Atlantis’ Sept. 9 launch, the team had waited
through cancellations and other delays caused by bad weather, equipment
failure, Hurricane Katrina and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
“This is only the third flight since Columbia, and a lot of life science
projects were cut,” Buchanan explained. The Space Shuttle Columbia
disintegrated upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere in 2003. “Since this
is going up now, it signals that it’s a high priority for NASA.”
While the organisms are in space, an astronaut will rotate the container
that holds them to initiate the experiment and then repeat the process
periodically to keep it going. “Every time they do something in space, we’ll
do the identical on the ground, so that the only difference is they’re in
space,” Buchanan said.
The results will help determine the effect of space on organisms that
have the potential to cause diseases in astronauts during long-term flight.
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A UMNS photo courtesy of NASA
The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches from the Kennedy Space Center.
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| The
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches Sept. 9 from the Kennedy Space Center
at Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying a life science experiment that is
overseen by a team that includes Kent Buchanan, a biology professor at
United Methodist-related Oklahoma City University, as well as
researchers from Arizona State University and Tulane University Health
Sciences Center. Photo courtesy of NASA. Photo #06-1081. Accompanies
UMNS story #550. 9/14/06 |
Chery Nickerson at Arizona State University is the principal investigator
for the project. Buchanan is a co-investigator, along with Tim Hammond and
Michael Schurr of Tulane University Health Sciences Center.
Buchanan moved to Oklahoma City last year from the New Orleans area after
Hurricane Katrina left the Tulane University Medical Building where he
worked inoperable. He said he was thankful to be able to continue teaching
and working on the experiment, and he plans to travel to the Kennedy Space
Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for Atlantis’ landing on Sept. 19.
“We’ll get (the organisms) off the shuttle as fast as we can for the
virulence studies,” he explained.
“The astronauts are very excited about it,” he said. “This has become one
of the highlights in my scientific career. It has turned out to be a big
honor for me.”
The six-member crew of Atlantis launched Sept. 9 on an 11-day
construction mission to the International Space Station.
*This story was adapted from a press release by Leslie Berger,
communications and marketing writer at Oklahoma City University.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org
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Resources
Oklahoma City University
What the United Methodist Church says about space travel
NASA-Atlantis
Wikipedia: Microorganism
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