Orbiter.ch Space News: Space Station Science Highlights: Week of January 4, 2021

vendredi 8 janvier 2021

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of January 4, 2021

ISS - Expedition 64 Mission patch.

Jan. 8, 2021

Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted dozens of scientific investigations during the week of Jan. 4, including microgravity studies of biofilms, cultivating plants, behavior of liquid in a tank, and protein crystal growth. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply craft departed the station on Wed. and is scheduled to conduct several post-departure science investigations, including testing technology for 5G communications, prior to re-entry on Jan. 26.

Image above: Northrop Grumman's Cygnus space freighter departs the International Space Station after a 93-day mission docked to the station. Cygnus has several post-departure science investigations to complete prior to its reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Image Credit: NASA.

Seven crew members currently inhabit the station, including four from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, providing increased crew time for science on the orbiting lab. The space station has been continuously inhabited by humans for 20 years and has supported many scientific breakthroughs during that time. The station provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space, experience that supports Artemis, NASA’s program to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars.

Here are details on some of the microgravity investigations currently taking place:

Biofilms – friend and foe

Two vastly different investigations conducted this week focused on biofilms, layers that communities of microbes form on various surfaces. Sometimes this formation is harmful, but in other cases, it can be beneficial.

Forming biofilms can enable bacteria to survive environmental stresses, disinfectants, and antibiotic treatments, which can present health risks to crew members. Biofilms also affect the integrity and function of the materials on which they form, a risk expected to increase with longer duration space missions. The Bacterial Adhesion and Corrosion investigation tests an antimicrobial coating on several different materials used to represent typical surfaces on the space station. This study could provide insight into better ways to control and remove resistant biofilms on long-duration spaceflights and support development of more effective disinfection in extreme environments on Earth. The crew performed three fixation sessions for the investigation during the week.

Certain microbes form biofilms on the surface of rocks that can extract minerals and metals such as iron and magnesium from the material, a process known as biomining. The BioAsteroid investigation from ESA (European Space Agency) examines this potentially beneficial biofilm formation on asteroid or meteorite material. Potential uses for biomining on future space missions include breaking down rock into soils for plant growth, or extracting elements useful for life support systems and production of medicines. Future space explorers may be able to use rocks and regolith (the dust-like material covering the Moon, asteroids and other planetary bodies) for a variety of purposes. During the week, the crew wrapped up BioAsteriod operations and uninstalled the investigation.

Moving closer to fresh food in space

Future long-duration space missions will require crew members to grow their own food. Understanding how plants respond to microgravity is an important step toward that goal. The Veg-03 investigation cultivates and analyzes various plants, using pillows – low-mass modules that accommodate a variety of plant types and require little energy and maintenance. Researchers tested and refined the pillows and selected the growth media, fertilizers, plant species, materials, and protocols for the investigation. During this week, the crew installed root mat and plant pillows containing Extra Dwarf Pak Choi, Amara Mustard, and Red Romaine Lettuce in the station’s Veggie facility and initiated the experiment.

Watching fuel in the tank

Animation above: NASA astronaut Victor Glover sets up operations for FLUIDICS, an ESA investigation that uses small, transparent spheres as stand-ins for spacecraft fuel tanks to study liquid sloshing and turbulence. Animation Credit: NASA.

The crew performed the first of three runs for FLUIDICS, an ESA investigation. FLUIDICS uses small, transparent spheres as stand-ins for spacecraft fuel tanks to look at how liquids move inside closed spaces, called sloshing, and on the surface of a liquid in motion, or wave turbulence. Measuring these phenomena can help more accurately determine how much fuel remains in a tank. In addition, since fuel sloshing can cause a satellite to wobble, a better understanding of sloshing could help improve guidance and movement precision of satellites and optimize satellite fuel management. Interaction with the forces of gravity and surface tension affect wave turbulence on Earth, but microgravity allows scientists to focus on the effect of surface tension.

Continued Quest for Quality Crystals

Image above: This image shows hardware for the JAXA Moderate Temp PCG investigation aboard the space station. Protein crystals contribute to development of pharmaceutical drugs and research on human health, and microgravity enables growth of higher-quality crystals. Image Credit: NASA.

An investigation from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), JAXA Moderate Temp PCG grows high quality protein crystals at 20 degrees C in microgravity to determine details of their structures. Protein crystals contribute to development of pharmaceutical drugs and research on human health. Microgravity enables growth of higher-quality crystals than those grown on Earth. JAXA has more than a decade of experience growing protein crystals in space and has developed new techniques for studying them. JAXA Moderate Temp PCG, together with JAXA Low Temp PCG, helps determine the effect of temperature variation in particular on crystal growth. The crew installed kits to initiate runs of the investigation during the week.

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- Rodent Research-10 examines the role of a particular gene in tissues affected by microgravity and could lead to the development of treatments to counter tissue degeneration in space.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7734

- Rodent Research-23 looks at function of arteries, veins, and lymphatic structures in the eye and changes in the retina before and after spaceflight in order to clarify whether these changes impair visual function.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8147

- BRE focuses on fire prevention in spacecraft, examining burning conditions and the flammability of materials in microgravity. BRE is part of ACME, a set of six independent studies of gaseous flames intended to advance fuel efficiency and reduce pollutant production in practical combustion on Earth and to improve spacecraft fire prevention.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7629

Image above: NASA astronaut Kate Rubins services engineered heart tissue samples for the Cardinal Heart study that seeks to understand space-caused cell and tissue abnormalities. Image Credit: NASA.

- Cardinal Heart studies changes in gene expression in three human heart cell types after spending time in microgravity, using three-dimensional engineered heart tissues. Results may help establish screening measures to predict cardiovascular risk in humans prior to spaceflight and identify new treatments for people with heart disease on Earth.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8218

Image above: NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins conducts operations for the HemoCue experiment, which tests an autonomous method for blood analysis in microgravity. Accurate blood analysis can diagnose illnesses, monitor conditions such as infections or radiation exposure, and track response to treatment – all important capabilities on future long-duration space missions. Image Credit: NASA.

- HemoCue tests using a commercially available device to provide quick and accurate counts of total and individual WBCs in microgravity. Being able to perform autonomous blood analysis in space is an important step toward meeting the health care needs of crew members on long duration missions.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8325

- Thermal Amine Scrubber tests a system to remove carbon dioxide from the space station’s cabin air. The system also reduces loss of water vapor and recovers carbon dioxide, which can be used to produce oxygen through a process called electrolysis.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7404

- SUBSA-BRAINS examines differences in capillary flow, interface reactions, and bubble formation during solidification of brazing alloys in microgravity. Researchers plan to perform the same capillary flow tests on Earth and in microgravity in order to better understand the physics of the flow of molten metals.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8295

- Food Acceptability looks at how the appeal of food changes during long-duration missions. Whether crew members like and actually eat foods directly affects caloric intake and associated nutritional benefits.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

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