"It’samilestoneinourresearch.Itwasthrillingandrelievingatthesametimetodothecountdownandfinallyseetherocketlaunch.”,saysProf.OliverUllrich,spaceBIOLOGistfromtheOtto-von-Guericke-UniversityinMagdeburgandtheUniversityofZurich.
After4yearsofgroundwork,thecrewlessresearchrocketTEXUS-49finallytookoff.Itwas6.01amonthe29thofMarch2011,attheSwedishrocketlaunchsiteESRANGEnearKiruna,150kmnorthoftheArcticCircle–andPromoCell’s HematopoieticStemCells wereonboard.
TEXUS(aGermanacronymfortechnologicalexperimentsinweightlessness)number49setofftoanalyzewhyhumancellsdisplaylong-termsensitivitytoweightlessness–thisisoneofthemostimportantproblemsformannedspaceflightsanditistheresearchprojectofProf.OliverUllrich.Sincethefirstcrewedspaceflightsoccurred,itisknownthatduringandafterlongperiodsinweightlessness,astronautssufferfromseriousdisordersoftheimmunesystemthatmanifestthemselvesinheavyinfections.
OliverUllrichhasalreadygainedvaluableinsightintothesignaltransductionofcellsoftheimmunesystemfromeightparabolicflightcampaigns.InMarch,thisprojectwastakentothenextstep,andourPromoCellTechnicalCustomerServicewasrightinthemiddleoftheaction.
Duringthe20minuteflight,PromoCell’sHematopoieticStemCellswereexposedtomicrogravityforapproximately6minutes.Prof.OliverUllrichknowsfromexperience:“TheimmunecellsreactwithinsecondsoftimetothesUSPensionofgravity.”
Afteritsflightataheightofupto268km,theTEXUSPayloadlandedwiththeStemCellsinanunpopulatedareaofnorthernSwedenandwasrecoveredbyhelicopter.
ThesetupwithPromoCell’sHematopoieticStemCellsisnowbackinthelaboratoryinZurich,wheretheexperimentsarebeinganalyzedusingmoderntechnology.
Atthispointintime,onething’sforsure:thestoryof“PromoCellsinSpace”willcontinue–furthertestsinweightlessnessareplanned!