The main purpose of the SLS-1 mission is to study the mechanisms, magnitudes, and time courses of certain physiological changes that occur during space flight and to investigate the consequences of the body's adaptation to microgravity and readjustment to 1-g. The SLS-1 investigations explore the responses of the heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, and hormone-secreting glands to microgravity and related body fluid shifts; examine the causes of space motion sickness; and study changes in the muscles, bones, and cells. Procedures and equipment for space biomedical investigations are also tested. These tests are essential to developing an effective and efficient laboratory for life sciences research on Space Station Freedom.

The first Spacelab mission dedicated to life sciences research (SLS-1) is scheduled to be launched in 1991. Almost all the investigations to be conducted on this mission were originally proposed in 1978 and selected by NASA in 1981. Thus, the planning of this mission spans more than a decade. During this time, NASA has funded the investigator teams not only to prepare the experiment for flight, but to conduct the ground-based research to support this effort. This book is an attempt to summarize this background and supportive research by publishing selected papers and abstracts of the SLS-1 investigators.

The main purpose of the SLS-1 mission is to study the mechanisms, magnitudes, and time courses of certain physiological changes that occur during space flight and to investigate the consequences of the body's adaptation to microgravity and readjustment to 1-g. The SLS-1 investigations explore the responses of the heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, and hormone-secreting glands to microgravity and related body fluid shifts; examine the causes of space motion sickness; and study changes in the muscles, bones, and cells. Procedures and equipment for space biomedical investigations are also tested. These tests are essential to developing an effective and efficient laboratory for life sciences research on Space Station Freedom.