Calm Technologies
Enhanced OSTeoporosis Experments on Orbit (eOSTEO)
The effect of gravity on bone loss is a key area of interest for the space community, particularly since up to 10 per cent of an astronaut’s bone mass can be lost in a three-month mission. With space exploration targeting longer duration missions at farther destinations, understanding the biological mechanisms and finding countermeasures to astronaut bone loss has been identified as a priority not only within Canada’s Scientific Community, but also for that of its international partners. The United States has specifically identified astronaut bone loss as a key area for research in its forward plan, and continued collaborations with Canada have demonstrated this as a priority for the European Space Agency as well.
OSTEO set the benchmark for Canadian bone research on orbit, flying two missions on the Shuttle. Following its success with the first mission on STS-95 with John Glenn, the OSTEO payload was flown a second time on the tragic Columbia STS-107 mission. Complementing the OSTEO payload containing Canadian science on STS-107 was a second OSTEO payload containing the European ERISTO experiments.
eOSTEO raised the benchmark through full automation, higher media capacity, waste media sampling, and better preservation of the biological samples prior to return to earth. Two eOSTEO payloads flew on the Russian FOTON-M3 mission, launched on a Soyuz rocket in 2007. Six experiments in 24 bioreactor modules were flown during this mission, containing research from Canada, France and Italy. eOSTEO is now poised for upgrade, to allow it to take up residence on ISS for future bone loss experiments. Watch for exciting new opportunities in this field of research through eOSTEO’s ongoing legacy, and with the next generation of cell culture payloads, CCAP.
Recent News
Effective immediately, all sales, service and support for the SEAM line of electrode testers and associated equipment is now being handled by QC Integrated Services.
Kickstarter launched
Swidget, the Smart Home targeted wall outlet represents the final product adoption of the patented COMPORT system. Please check us out on Kickstarter and pledge you support
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:42 p.m. EDT Thursday with almost 3,100 pounds of NASA cargo from the International Space Station, including research on how spaceflight and microgravity affect the aging process and bone health (Osteo-4)
An article, by Spaceflight Insider, talking about the importance of the Osteo-4 payload to osteoporosis research:
Lowell Misener, President of CALM Technologies, had a talk about Osteo-4 with Wei Chen of CBC Radio One’s Ontario Morning. Below is the link to the Ontario Morning Podcast. Lowell’s interview begins at 06:18 and concludes at 11:33. Enjoy!
On January 26, 2015 Calm was awarded a contract to build and support hardware for the European Space Agency project InVitro Bone (#4000112839/14/NL/FC). This involves the manufacture of the flight proven Osteo-4 design and support for flight qualification. The future InVitro Bone mission is targeting 2017.
To see the Kingston Whig Standard article on CALM Technologies and Osteo-4 click the link below:
From the NASA website highlighting Space Station Research, an article titled: Scientists Make No Bones about First Study of Osteocytes on Space Station. Great photo of the Osteo-4 Team!
Watch the launch video of the SpaceX CRS-6 mission carrying the Osteo-4 Payload aboard the Dragon capsle on the Falcon9 rocket.
CRS-6 Prelaunch Science Panel – With Paola D. Pajevic, principal investigator, Osteocytes and Mechanomechano-transduction (Osteo-4), Massachusetts General Hospital.
