The pressurized capsule of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon refueling ship with the cone of its nose open is shown as the vehicle leaves the International Space Station on January 23, 2022. Credit: NASA
While the International Space Station (ISS) was orbiting more than 267 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft docked autonomously at the station’s Harmony module port at 11 a.m .: 21 in the morning (8:21). am PDT) today (July 16, 2022), with NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins overseeing operations from the station.
The Dragon was launched on SpaceX’s 25th contracted commercial resupply mission for NASA from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:44 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 14th. After Dragon spends about a month connected to the orbiting lab, the spacecraft will return to Earth with cargo and research.
The SpaceX Dragon refueling spacecraft approaches the space station during an orbital sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA TV
Among the scientific experiments that Dragon is delivering to the space station are:
Dust from northwest Africa blows over the Canary Islands in this image captured by the NOAA-20 satellite on 14 January. An upcoming NASA mission, the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), will help scientists better understand the role of dust in the air in heating and cooling the atmosphere. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Earth dust mapping
Developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) uses NASA’s imaging spectroscopy technology to measure the mineral composition of dust in arid regions of the Earth. . Mineral dust blown into the air can travel significant distances and affect the Earth’s climate, climate, vegetation and more. For example, an area can be heated with dust made of dark minerals that absorb sunlight, while a region can be cooled with dust made of light-colored minerals. Air quality, surface conditions, including the speed at which snow melts, and the health of oceanic phytoplankton are all affected by the dust that blows. For a year, the research will collect images to generate maps of the mineral composition in the dust-producing regions of the Earth. This mapping could advance our understanding of how mineral dust affects human populations now and in the future.
Pre-flight preparation of tissue chips for immunosenescence research, which studies the effects of microgravity on immune function to determine the mechanisms behind aging of the immune system. Credit: Sonja Schrepfer, University of California at San Francisco
Faster aging of the immune system
Immunosenescence is changes in the immune system due to aging. Microgravity causes changes in human immune cells that resemble immunosenescence, but happen much faster than the actual aging process on Earth. Sponsored by ISS National Lab, immunosenescence research, uses tissue chips to study how microgravity affects immune function during flight and whether immune cells recover after flight. Tissue chips are small devices that contain human cells in a 3D structure, which allow researchers to test how these cells respond to stress, drugs, and genetic changes.
“Immune aging affects tissue stem cells and their ability to repair tissues and organs,” says lead researcher Sonja Schrepfer, a professor of surgery at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). “Our studies aim to understand the critical pathways for preventing and reversing the aging of immune cells.”
“Space flight conditions allow the study of immune aging that would not be feasible in the laboratory,” says co-researcher Tobias Deuse, a professor of surgery at UCSF. This work could support the development of treatments for the aging of the immune system on Earth. Research could also support the development of methods to protect astronauts during future long-haul spaceflights.
The 25th SpaceX cargo resupply service mission (SpaceX CRS-25) carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations to the International Space Station was launched on July 14 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Experiments aboard the Dragon Capsule include studies on the immune system, wound healing, soil communities, and cell-free biomarkers, as well as mapping the composition of Earth’s dust and testing an alternative to concrete. Credit: NASA
Small satellites, great science
Five CubeSats were launched on this mission sponsored by NASA’s launch services program, including BeaverCube, which was launched into the space station for deployment into low Earth orbit. The small satellite uses several cameras, including one that makes color images of Earth’s oceans and two that collect thermal images of the top of the clouds and the surface of the ocean. Temperatures at the top of the clouds and on the surface of the ocean help researchers understand the Earth’s climate and weather systems. The data collected also help scientists improve their understanding of the concentration of phytoplankton in the ocean, an important factor in the generation of atmospheric oxygen.
“Most Earth observation missions make images primarily on land, focusing on populated areas and targets of interest. BeaverCube will focus on the image of the oceans and coastal regions, combining thermal images with images visible to helping us better understand ocean fronts, ”says lead researcher Kerri Cahoy, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “BeaverCube also plans to demonstrate propulsion with electrospray, to understand its performance before and after drag forces begin to significantly affect the spacecraft and desorb.”
Preparation of sample tubes for DynaMoS, which examines how microgravity affects metabolic interactions in soil microbial communities. Each tube contains chitin and sterile soil inoculated with a community of microbes. Credit: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Soil in space
Complex communities of microorganisms perform key functions in the Earth’s soil, including supporting plant growth and the carbon and other nutrient cycle. DynaMoS, a research sponsored by NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS), examines how microgravity affects metabolic interactions in communities of soil microbes. This research focuses on the microbial communities that break down chitin, a natural carbon polymer on Earth.
“Soil microorganisms perform beneficial functions that are essential for life on our planet,” says lead researcher Janet K. Jansson, chief scientist and laboratory researcher at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. “To take advantage of these beneficial activities for future space missions, we need to understand more about how conditions in space, such as microgravity and radiation, influence these microbes and the beneficial functions they provide. Perhaps in the future, we will use beneficial soil microbes to enhance crop growth on the lunar surface “.
A better understanding of the role of soil microorganism communities could also reveal ways to optimize these communities to support agricultural production on Earth.
Selin Kocalar, the student who designed the experiment on which Genes in Space-9 is based, is preparing his samples for launch. Credit: Genes in Space
Nothing, no cells
Cell-free technology is a platform for producing proteins without specialized living cell equipment to be cultured. Genes in Space-9, sponsored by the ISS National Lab, demonstrates the production of cell-free proteins in microgravity and evaluates two cell-free biosensors that can detect specific target molecules. This technology could provide a simple, portable, low-cost tool for medical diagnosis, on-demand production of drugs and vaccines, and environmental monitoring in future space missions.
“Biosensors are a class of synthetic biology tools with immense potential for space flight applications in pollutant detection, environmental control, and point-of-care diagnosis,” said Selin Kocalar, a winning student at Genes in Space 2021. “This research aims to validate its use aboard the space station. If successful, Genes in Space-9 will lay the groundwork for downstream biosensor applications for space exploration and limited resource configuration. on earth”.
Genes in Space, an annual research competition, challenges 7th to 12th graders to design DNA experiments to be done on the space station. The program has launched eight investigations so far, and some have led to publications that improve our knowledge of genetic experiments through space research, including the first experiment that used CRISPR technology in microgravity in 2019.
Flight hardware for biopolymer research for in situ capabilities, an investigation of how microgravity affects the process of creating a concrete alternative made with an organic material and in situ materials such as lunar or Martian dust. Each module makes two bricks, for a total of six bricks made in space. Credit: James Wall
Better concrete
Biopolymer research for in situ capabilities analyzes how microgravity affects the process of creating a concrete alternative made with an organic material and in situ materials such as lunar or Martian dust, known as soil biopolymer compound (PCB). The use of the available resources where the construction is done allows to increase the mass of the construction material and, therefore, the amount of shielding.
“Astronauts on the Moon and Mars will need habitats that provide radiation protection, but transporting large amounts of conventional building materials from Earth is logistically and financially unfeasible,” said team member Laywood Fayne. “Our team of students, led by Michael Lepech of Stanford University’s Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, is studying a way to turn regolith in these environments into a concrete – like material by mixing water and a protein known as. ..