Gary Railsback, age 12, of Oberlin, Kansas; for her question:

What is space biology?

Your parents and grandparents could not plan to study for a career in space biology. But this fascinating life work is there waiting for hundreds of young students who wish to probe into the science of living things. This, of course, is the science of biology. Until the Space Age dawned, we could study animals and plants living on our planet. Now we must discover how these living things can or cannot exist in space.
Our orbiting satellites are packed with instruments to send us information from the shores of space surrounding the earth. But many other rockets have been sent aloft to test living conditions out there in space. All sorts of tests were made before Col. John Glenn orbited the earth last Feb. 20 and proved that man can, under certain conditions, survive a trip into space.
Thousands of experts worked to make this historic flight possible. Some planned the technical equipment. But the safety of the living astronaut was planned by the scientists called space biologists. Their work started when some of the first rockets were sent aloft into space.
 Some of these rockets carried odd items such as seeds of corn and the eggs of sea urchins. Some of these living cells wars exposed to the harsh living conditions of space. Later they were tested and retested. Some of their descendants were also tested for possible damage done to living cells in outer space.
  One of the big problems of space travel is weightlessness. When a body escapes the earth s gravity it loses its weight and floats freely. A Couple of dice were sent aloft along with a camera to see how the little creatures acted when freed from gravity. They were tested when they returned and the space biologists who directed the project reported that the small space travelers were in fine shape.
Fish eggs and other cells were sent aloft to test the radiation in space. This space biology project was very important because radiation may change the chromosomes which direct the activity of cells of the human body. Molds and other plant cells have also been tested by the same biologists. The space biologists use their data to plan the necessary living conditions inside the ships which will one day take mankind to other worlds.
The field of space biology is but a few years old. But the experts already know enough to send a man safely into space. We need to know much, much more on this fascinating subject. Future space ships will be able to carry human beings and perhaps plants and animals safely across the weightless, airless, frigid oceans of space.