DAYTON — News Center 7 continues to closely follow a history-making space crew that is on board the International Space Station.
Local businessman Larry Connor is piloting the four-person team, which is the first ever private crew to go to ISS.
The crew launched into space last Friday just before noon and docked at ISS on Saturday morning. The spend Sunday and Monday adjusting to microgravity and preparing their equipment for more than 25 experiments they will be doing this week.
>> Local entrepreneur, Larry Connor, to pilot first-ever private mission to International Space Station
Connor is doing research for The Mayo Clinic. He began testing the impact of microgravity on human cells in order to help better understand aging.
Connor also took time out of his day on Tuesday to talk to people at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. He is making time to connect with people from the Miami Valley during his journey.
When describing his view, he said, “This is the best view in the world.” Connor continued by saying, “You have an unprecedented view of earth, and I was fortunate this morning to be with one of the European astronauts and we were just crossing into Portugal through Spain, France, Italy, Ukraine and Russian.”
This is not a 17,000 mile per house sight-seeing trip aboard the ISS.
Connor took questions from people about his research who were at the Boonshoft Museum. Experiments for the Cleveland Clinic, dealing with the heart and spine, along with studies for The Mayo Clinic focusing on the brain and aging.
“Yesterday literally, I spent five hours with my arms in what’s called a life science glove box transferring those cells,” Connor said.
A process he called tedious, but important.
“The hope is that it ends up making a difference and leads to some groundbreaking research,” Connor said.
His family was also at the Boonshoft Museum on Tuesday, just like they were at the launch last week in Florida.