In addition to the MEIDEX experiment, there are two more experiments that Columbia will conduct, in which Israeli researchers are partners
Tamara Traubman
The Israeli experiment that will be conducted on the space shuttle Columbia is known as MEIDEX, an acronym in English for "Israeli Dust Experiment in the Middle East".
The main goal of the project is to study the impact of dust storms and air pollution on the climate in the Middle East. The experiment was designed at Tel Aviv University, and according to Prof. Ze'ev Levin, one of the leaders of the experiment, aerosols - dust particles floating in the atmosphere - will be measured over the Mediterranean region. This, in order to examine their effect on the formation of clouds and rain.
According to Prof. Levin, information received in recent years has led scientists to believe that dust particles affect climatic processes such as the formation of clouds and rain. However, according to him, "the dust is still missing and misunderstood in the equation known as 'climate', and its investigations are today at the forefront of scientific research. The dust is not only important to Israel, it covers the entire planet, and understanding it is important for understanding the phenomenon of global warming, rainfall and other phenomena." .
Cameras on the shuttle will point towards dust storms, and at the same time - a research plane will fly under the shuttle's coverage area. The plane will collect additional data that will help interpret the data received from the instruments on the space shuttle. According to the team, the data collected could improve the degree of accuracy of the dust measurements made by satellites operating in space.
According to the original plan, the dust experiment was supposed to be carried out in the summer about two years ago, but its postponement led to its being carried out in the winter season, when dust storms are quite rare. Since the team was concerned that the lack of storms in the winter would harm the quality of the experiment results, it was decided to also add air pollution measurements and three other experiments.
In one of them they will investigate mysterious flashes of light called "elves". The first reports of light sprites were first received in the 50s by pilots who saw flashes of red and blue light. "Scientists didn't really believe them," says Prof. Levin. However, in 1989, for the first time, pictures of the elves were taken from the ground. According to Levin, the elves appear during lightning storms, but it is not clear how they are created. In the experiment - which will be done in collaboration with the Open University - the researchers will try to decipher how they formed.
There are two more experiments that Columbia will conduct, in which Israeli researchers participate:
- An experiment to test the ability of bacteria to reproduce in the microgravity conditions of space. The experiment was conducted under the guidance of Dr. Eran Shankar from the Israeli Institute of Space Medicine, and Dr. David Wormflesh, a NASA researcher. Yuval Landau, a medical student from Tel Aviv University and Tarek Adwan, a Palestinian medical student in the USA, are partners in it. After the shuttle returns to Earth, the researchers will compare the bacteria grown in space to a group of bacteria grown on Earth, and see if there is a difference in the rate or manner of their growth.
- An experiment that will test a formula in space, which contains a "probiotic" bacterium, and was developed by the "Materna" company. The experiment will be done in collaboration with NASA, Dr. Shankar from the Institute of Space Medicine and Dr. Yael Bar, a doctor and researcher at the Pathology Institute of the Ichilov Hospital. As part of the experiment, the bacteria's activity will be tested in the test tubes that will be placed on the shuttle, comparing it to the bacteria's activity on Earth.
The Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, will also supervise an experiment designed by the students of "Ort" high school in Kiryat Motzkin, under the scientific guidance of chemist Prof. Eliezer Kolodani from the Technion in Haifa. In the experiment, blue and white crystals (chemical molecules) will be grown. Crystals of the type that will be taken into space usually grow against the direction of gravity, and the students want to see how the crystals grow in weightless conditions.
The launch of the shuttle Columbia today will be the 113th time that space shuttles have been launched into space and the 28th time that this shuttle has been launched. After you complete this mission, Columbia will be put into renovations, during which it will be prepared for docking at the International Space Station. In recent years, the US government's investment in the American space program has been significantly reduced and most resources have been concentrated solely on the construction of its International Space Station.
The expedition departing today - whose code name is - 107-STS will be the first expedition in three years launched for the purpose of scientific experiments only, and not for the purposes of construction and maintenance of the space station.
