IU facility to aid NASA in solar flare research

Since President John F. Kennedy said in 1961 that America would put a man on the moon, the American people have been fascinated with the skies.\nWith a newfound interest in space because of President Bush's proposal of sending a man to Mars, NASA is looking to IU's Cyclotron Facility to help research the effects of solar flares on the human body. The Cyclotron is a multidisciplinary facility that includes particle accelerators for nuclear physics, medical research, a cancer treatment clinic and a neutron source, said IU Cyclotron Director Paul Sokol.\n"One of the big problems with space travel is the astronaut's susceptibility to solar flares, which are mainly comprised of protons," Sokol said. "We're going to be studying the effects of solar flares on the immune system."\nIn order to test the effects of solar flares on humans, IUCF will use a model that simulates the effects of weightlessness by applying stress to their immune systems, a phenomenon astronauts experience. \n"We're going to be using lights to study the effects at the IU Medical School and the Cyclotron to measure their immune system and bone marrow," Sokol said.\nThe IUCF proposed the idea to NASA because of its long-standing interest in the IU School of Medicine and IUCF's partnership with SHOT Industries, located in Greensville, Ind.\nHowever, in order for the project to take place, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate must both pass funding.\nSokol said Congressman Mike Sodrel of Indiana's 9th District has been a big help in getting the funding passed through the House and was one of the advocates for NASA to become involved in the project.\n"The research being done at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility in support of the United States Armed Forces will help ensure that America remains strong for generations to come," Sodrel said on his Web site, http://sodrel.house.gov.\n"I'm proud to support the work being done at IUCF with this funding, and I look forward to working with IUCF leaders to continue to enhance and expand the facility and its capabilities."\nThe project will begin in about four months, and the initial series of studies will take nearly three years to complete.\n"We're hoping that this will turn into an even longer program at IU," Sokol said.