Citation

Szewczyk NJ, McLamb W. Wilderness Environ. Med. 2005; 16(1): 27-32.

Affiliation

Space Life Research and Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA. nate@alumni.cmu.edu

Comment In:

Wilderness Environ Med. 2005 Spring;16(1):2

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15813144

Abstract

Spacecraft travel higher and faster than aircraft, making breakup potentially less survivable. As with aircraft breakup, the dissipation of lethal forces via spacecraft breakup around an organism is likely to greatly increase the odds of survival. By employing a knowledge of space and aviation physiology, comparative physiology, and search-and-rescue techniques, we were able to correctly predict and execute the recovery of live animals following the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia. In this study, we make what is, to our knowledge, the first report of an animal, Caenorhabditis elegans, surviving the atmospheric breakup of the spacecraft that was supporting it and discuss both the lethal events these animals had to escape and the implications for search and rescue following spacecraft breakup.

Language: en