Chapter 7 Teaching of Space Life Sciences

Abstract

Space life sciences is not really a new life sciences discipline such as immunology was some decades ago and it may never be so. Rather it is a field that will provide each existing life sciences discipline with new and more information gathered from space research. In fact, the danger is that space research will be confined in a separate discipline, and thus it will be cut off from classical ground research. Conversely, scientists should increasingly consider spaceflight as a tool and should integrate the findings of space research into their traditional disciplines. A brief survey of topics and main findings in the various subdisciplines of space life sciences is provided. This is followed by a discussion of typical problems encountered such as access to space, controls, ground-based simulations, medical care in space, extravehicular activity, and environmental control and life support. As many space life sciences courses are initiated around the world either by space agencies or universities or jointly, there is a need to consider the international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary aspects of such programs. It is argued that the growing knowledge derived from space research should be integrated into the regular teaching of life sciences rather than leaving it confined to a separate field. Teaching of space life sciences is a prime candidate for the application of the new techniques of "cyberspace education", where interactive learning and globalization of the learning process will take a leading place. The experts and student body are dispersed over many nations, research is of necessity conducted on a basis of international cooperation. The conduct of tele-education is discussed and existing information sources and courses are listed.