From: utzoo!decvax!cca!OTA@S1-A@sri-unix
Newsgroups: net.space
Title: 
Article-I.D.: sri-unix.3281
Posted: Wed Sep 15 12:11:51 1982
Received: Thu Sep 16 01:40:28 1982

From: Ted Anderson 
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 15-Sep-82  0920	Ciccarelli at PARC-MAXC 	Space Manufacturing of Biological Materials  
To:   "@SPACE.FED[SPA,OTA]" at S1-A, "@SPACE.QUE[SPA,OTA]" at S1-A  
Date: 15 Sep 1982 09:24 PDT
From: Ciccarelli at PARC-MAXC
Subject: Space Manufacturing of Biological Materials
To: Space @ MIT-MC

The September 13 issue of Electronic Engineering Times reports the following on
page 29, under the headline "Biological Materials To Be Made Commercially In
Space":

"As a result of the experimental prototype's success on the fourth shuttle mission,
McDonnell Douglas Astronautics says it will commit to the development of a
production biological-materials processing unit."

"The electrophoresis processing unit flown on the fourth shuttle flight was a
joint project between McDonnell Douglas and Ortho Pharmaceuticals..."

"According to McDonnell... the analysis of the quantities of the samples is
'extremely good'.  The samples were to make a total of 1182 receptacles.  Over 99
percent of the receptacles were filled to computer predictions of the experiment."

"Samples which contained a 25 percent concentration of biological material
produced about 400 times more separated material in space than the same
25-percent concentration could in full gravity."

"...it proves that commercially viable quantities of biological materials can be
produced in space."

Aside: E.E.Times' Howard Roth writes a column on government and aerospace
called 'DC Circuit' in which he provides excellent coverage of technology and
political developments relating to space.

/John