Hey Space Fans! 🚀 Guess what? The astronauts from the Shenzhou-19 mission have just returned to Earth with some amazing space goodies! They’ve been up in space for six whole months, and now they’re back with 37.25 kilograms of samples from 25 different experiments! 😮
What’s in the Space Goodie Bag? 🎁
The astronauts brought back all sorts of samples in the fields of space life science, materials science, and new technologies. Here’s some of the cool stuff they returned with:
- Bone cells and osteoblasts 🦴 – these help us understand how bones grow in space!
- Human bronchial epithelial cells 🫁 – studying these can help us learn about our lungs in space!
- Early embryos of humans and animals 🐣 – to see how life begins in zero gravity!
- Protein samples 💪 – proteins are the building blocks of our bodies!
- Fruit flies 🪰 – tiny insects that help us learn big things!
Fruit Flies in Space! 🪰✨
Did you know that fruit flies share many genes with humans? Scientists use them to study how living things might behave in space. The fruit flies brought back were actually the great-great-grandchildren of flies sent to space last November! They’ve been floating around, reproducing, and giving scientists lots to study.
Dr. Li Yan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, “In space, fruit flies don’t adapt to an environment without gravity and may float around or crash. We’ve noticed that some of their natural behaviors, like courting and eating, changed in space. We need to study more to find out why!”
Why Is This Important? 🌌
Someday, humans might live on the Moon, Mars, or even travel to other stars! ✨ But space is very different from Earth. There’s no gravity and very little magnetic field. Scientists want to know if humans and other living things can survive and stay healthy in these environments.
By studying these samples, especially the fruit flies, scientists can learn how space affects living creatures. This helps us prepare for future space adventures! 🛰️
What’s Next? 🔬
The samples have been handed over to scientists in Beijing for further research. They’ll be studying them closely to uncover the mysteries of space life. Stay tuned for more exciting discoveries! 🧪
Reference(s):
Samples from Shenzhou-19 space experiments handed over to scientists
cgtn.com
