Neurolab: An Introduction

President George Bush and the Congress of the United States declared the 1990s to be the "Decade of the Brain." This declaration recognized the spectacular advances that have taken place in neuroscience research over the past twenty-five years. Aptly called "the last frontier of human biology," neuroscience research holds infinite possibilities for greater understanding of how the nervous system works, and for treating and preventing nervous system ailments.

In response to this declaration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) dedicated a Spacelab shuttle mission (STS-90) to do research on the nervous system and behavior in space. This sixteen-day mission, called Neurolab, is scheduled for launch in spring 1998.

The main objectives of the Neurolab science payload are the study of how neuroscience research questions will be affected by a microgravity environment and the exploration of the mechanisms responsible for neurological and behavioral changes in space. In expanding our knowledge about fundamental biological processes, space experimentation serves as an educational tool that benefits Earth-based life science research as well.

• The Neurolab Mission
• History of Space Life Science
• What are Space Life Sciences?
• Space Neuroscience
• Overview of the Nervous System
  
• Glossary of terms

Related Web Pages

Neurolab:

Payload and Orbiter Virtual Tour, a tour of Columbia being prepared for STS-90
STS-90 crew personal web page
Neurolab Mission Management sponsored Website
STS-90 Neurolab NASA Headquarters Website
Neurolab focus, Ames Research Center, Life Sciences Division
STS-90 Kennedy Space Center Website
Neurolab section of Canadian Space Agency website
NASDA STS-90/Neurolab mission site by National Space Development Agency of Japan
Chuck, Neurolab's mascot's site
Vanderbilt Center for Space Physiology and Medicine participation in Neurolab

The Science:

NASA Life and Microgravity Sciences, NASA Headquarters
Biomedical Research in Space a history from Shuttle/MIR Website

International partners:
Agence spatiale canadienne The Canadian Space Agency
Centre National D'etudes Spatiales - French Space Agency (CNES)
European Space Agency (ESA)
German Aerospace Research Extablishment - DLR
Japan's Neurolab program - NASDA

The Shuttle:
Shuttle Mir Space Biology history of scientific investigations in space
Space Team Online, Quest project focus on the people who make the shuttle fly
Shuttle information from Kennedy Space Center