Introduction: are aging and space effects similar?

The workshop on "Correlations of Aging and Space Effects on Biosystems" was held to explore the possibility that research in the space environment would be useful to the understanding of some phenomena of aging on Earth and that life sciences in space would benefit from this collaboration. The genesis and purpose of this workshop and the rationale for the concept are presented below. The unique characteristics of the space environment are described as background for discussion of the utility of this approach and the author's belief that carefully thought out selected projects would be of mutual benefit to the space and aging research communities.