3 UF experiments aboard Atlantis, but UF researchers worry about
the future Published: Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 6:31 p.m. Last
Modified: Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 6:31 p.m. CAPE CANAVERAL —
University of Florida researchers are sending mice and squid
aboard the final shuttle mission as part of experiments gauging
the effects of space travel on human health. Although the space
shuttle program is ending, researchers say they hope their work
will continue to be relevant as private companies and foreign
space programs fill the void. Opportunities for humans to enter
space might actually increase in the years ahead, said Jamie
Foster, an assistant professor of microbiology and cell science
at UF who is conducting the squid research. "I'm imagining the
low-Earth-orbit Hilton," she said, referring to the idea of a
hotel hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface. "I really do
think that eventually humans will move beyond the biosphere,"
she added. "It may take a while, but I think it's inevitable."
Still, Foster a