This morning the space shuttle Columbia left Earth on an extraordinary mission--to study flames that form balls and flit around like UFOs, to collect exotic scents from space-traveling flowers, to reveal the inner workings of the human brain. And much more!

He had discovered vacuum.

Nowadays, kids in restaurants routinely do the same thing using straws and water or milk, but in Torricelli's day the notion of a vacuum was radical. Artistotle himself had declared that nature abhorred vacuums. Scientists, however, soon learned to love them.

Right: Evangelista Torricelli--the first space researcher? [more at http://www.mcallister.com/vacuum.html#torricelli]

A laboratory vacuum chamber is like a piece of outer space on Earth. It's a wonderful place to do experiments that would be impossible in our planet's thick atmosphere. Research involving vacuums and air pressure has led to light bulbs, integrated circuits, freeze-dried foods, particle accelerators, electron microscopes--even weather forecasting and human flight. Torricelli would be amazed.

It might be said that Torricelli's work marked the beginning of space research. "But there are many aspects of space we can't mimic on Earth," says Dr. John Charles of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We can turn down air pressure in laboratory vacuum chambers and bombard samples with space-like radiation. We can't turn off gravity, though, or look down on Earth from above."

Some things simply cannot be done on Earth. That's why NASA is building the International Space Station, a full-time low-gravity research lab. It's also why NASA schedules space shuttle missions dedicated to scientific research.

One such mission began this morning when the space shuttle Columbia left Earth carrying 80+ scientific experiments. About half are commercial, sponsored by businesses who hope to make the next big profit-making discovery. The rest are pure science. "We'll be doing experiments in fundamental physics, biology, firefighting, medicine, climate ... the variety is impressive," says Charles, who is the STS-107 mission scientist.

"Space is a truly alien environment," says Charles. "Many things behave differently up there."

Flames are a good example. On Earth, flames have a teardrop shape caused by hot air rising in a gravitational field. On board a spaceship, however, flames break apart into little balls that move around like UFOs. They burn using almost no fuel--something researchers would like to replicate in gas-saving auto engines. One of the experiments on STS-107, called SOFBALL-2, will ignite some flame balls and measure their properties. Scientists hope to learn how they burn and what keeps them lit.

Left: Tiny flame balls photographed onboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1997. [more at http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/21aug_flameballs.htm]

Human brains are another example. An astronaut just arriving in orbit has some big adjustments to make: There is no "up" or "down." If you drop something it doesn't fall. And just try catching a ball tossed by a crewmate! The brain adapts to weightlessness by building "a model" or mental subroutine that tells the body how to interpret these very unusual experiences. Before long, sleeping upside down is no problem. No one knows how the brain constructs such models, but neuroscientists want to find out because many believe model-building is a key to everyday human learning. NASA researchers will study this process among STS-107 crewmembers.

How different is space? Not even flowers smell the same. Perfume industry giant International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) found that out in 1998 when they sent a miniature rose called "Overnight Scentsation" into orbit onboard the space shuttle Discovery (STS-95). The flower developed a "floral rose aroma" quite distinct from its normal odor on Earth. The new fragrance has since been incorporated into "Zen", a perfume produced by the Japanese company Shiseido. This time on STS-107 IFF scientists will send two flowers into orbit--a rose and an Asian rice flower. They hope the pair together will produce scents even more exotic than before.

Right: Most of the experiments onboard STS-107 will take place within a SPACEHAB module at http://www.spacehab.com/twice as big at http://www.spacehab.com/sts107/index.htm as the one pictured here in the cargo bay of space shuttle Discovery in 1998. [more at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-95/html/sts095-702-057.html]

"Those are just three examples," says Charles. "There are about 77 more experiments onboard Columbia--all just as exciting."

Managing so many experiments is a big job. To get it done, Columbia's crew of seven will be split into two teams, Blue and Red, that will work 12 hour shifts. This will allow research to take place 24 hours-a-day during the entire 16-day mission.

All of the investigations onboard Columbia have some specific goal such as improving auto engines or discovering new aromas. But the big prizes, says Charles, are unknown. "No one in the 17th century could have predicted where Torricelli's simple experiment would lead. Similarly, no one can predict where low-gravity research will take us now."

"It's almost certain, though, that anything we do predict from our rudimentary experience so far will be only a small fraction of the ultimate benefits."

Editor's Note: Contrary to popular belief, there is gravity in Earth orbit. Otherwise the shuttle would fly out into space instead of circling our planet. Astronauts (and their science experiments) experience weightlessness because the shuttle is in free fall. Next week we will publish a story about tiny deviations from weightlessness on STS-107, and how that matters to some of the experiments onboard.

Science@NASA stories about STS-107:

Evangelista Torrecelli's discovery of vacuum triggered a revolution in scientific thinking about the nature of air and matter. It also enabled new kinds of experiments, which could be done only in the "alien environment" of a vacuum chamber. Learn more: A Short History of Vacuum Terminology and Technology (http://www.mcallister.com/vacuum.html) (McAllister Technical Services); Understanding Pressure and Vacuums (http://www.thebakken.org/education/SciMathMN/suction/suction1.htm) (The Bakken Library and Museum)