Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation in Infrared

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

April 6, 2020

Human eyes can see only a small portion of the range of radiation given off by the objects around us. We call this wide array of radiation the electromagnetic spectrum, and the part we can see visible light.

In this Hubble Space Telescope image, researchers revisited one of Hubble's most iconic and popular images: the Eagle Nebula’s Pillars of Creation.

Here, the pillars are seen in infrared light, which pierces through obscuring dust and gas and unveil a more unfamiliar — but just as amazing — view of the pillars. The better-known image is of the pillars in visible light.

In this ethereal view the entire frame is peppered with bright stars and baby stars are revealed being formed within the pillars themselves. The ghostly outlines of the pillars seem much more delicate, and are silhouetted against an eerie blue haze.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

Explore how light affects the images we see. Find more online activities on Hubble Inspires:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/explore-light

https://www.nasa.gov/content/hubble-inspires-online-activities

For more information about Hubble, visit:
http://hubblesite.org/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Image, Animation, Text Credits: NASA/Yvette Smith/ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space marches on: a month of science in microgravity

ISS - International Space Station logo.

April 6, 2020

Canadarm2 robotic arm

Despite challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, teams in space and on the ground have been hard at work over the past month to keep science up and running on the International Space Station.

With the three-person crew preparing to become six again for a brief time in April, we take a look at what has been happening onboard humankind’s only orbital outpost over the past four weeks – including the arrival of some exciting European cargo.

In the belly of a Dragon

Towards the start of the month, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir grappled a visiting Dragon – a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that is. Carrying over 1950 kg of cargo including Europe’s new external experiment-hosting facility Bartolomeo, the cargo craft arrived on 9 March, joining three other spacecraft currently docked to the Station.

Bartolomeo on the move

The Bartolomeo facility, built and operated by Airbus and hosted by ESA, attaches to the exterior of Europe’s Columbus laboratory. Designed to provide new scientific opportunities on the outside of the Space Station for commercial and institutional users, the facility offers unobstructed views toward Earth and into space. Applications include Earth observation, robotics, material science and astrophysics.

Communications antenna for the Columbus module on the ISS

Earlier spacewalks prepared Columbus’ hull to receive the new host facility by adapting support pins to which Bartolomeo will connect. Two weeks ahead of the Dragon launch, Jessica set up hardware inside the Station to provide a connection with the new facility. On 24 March the Space’s Station’s robotic Canadarm2 was used to gently pluck Bartolomeo from the Dragon, and place it in a temporary parking position on the outside of the US Laboratory. Then, on 31 March, more robotic operations were conducted to move Bartolomeo to the outside of Columbus, to await installation by astronauts. 

Astronauts will perform a further spacewalk to install Bartolomeo in the next few months, together with a new terminal called ColKa that will enable close to instantaneous transmission of data from Columbus to Earth.

CADMOS console in Toulouse

Other European cargo in the Dragon included parts for the Materials Science Laboratory, radiation dosimeters and medical equipment for the Myotones experiment that monitors the tone, stiffness and elasticity of astronauts’ muscles.

Myotones operations will continue after Easter with support from CADMOS (the centre for the development of microgravity applications and space operations) in Toulouse, France. Scientists from the University of Southampton in the UK, Charité Medical University in Berlin, Germany, and the German Sport University in Cologne, Germany, will be on hand to guide astronaut Chris Cassidy through Myotones procedures with the help of ESA’s specialist communicators, known as Eurocoms, at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

Space gardeners

Another new European addition to the Station with the Dragon is an experiment called Canes. This experiment from French space agency CNES seeks to understand how ligneous (woody) plant prunings, known as canes, are affected by a long storage period in microgravity and whether they can grow into viable plants upon their return to Earth.

By understanding any physiological or metabolic changes these canes undergo in microgravity, researchers seek to determine whether ligneous plants could be grown in space. It could also lead to the discovery of new biologically-active products that would be of interest to the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

The experiment will see two grape vines kept cool in the Space Station’s Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer, MELFI, putting the plants into hibernation so they do not require nutrients or water.

Foaming fluids

March also marked the conclusion of multiscale boiling experiment Rubi– an experiment to better understand the boiling process, which has now produced around 4.7 TB of data that is being analysed by scientists on Earth.

Space foam

After decommissioning Rubi, Jessica installed a new experiment in Columbus’ Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL) known as Foam-Coarsening. This experiment, developed by Airbus for ESA, builds on a series of investigations to better understand the behaviour of foam in space.

Through the Foam-Coarsening experiment, researchers will investigate foam behaviour at different liquid stages, particularly as it transitions from a solid- to liquid-like state.

The results from this research go beyond just the foam in your morning cappuccino. Foams are used in a wide range of areas from food production to cleaning and sealing products, cosmetics and personal hygiene products, and even construction. However, scientific knowledge of liquid foams is extremely limited due to their instability on Earth. Gaining a better understanding of their properties with the help of microgravity could help improve foam control or process design in industry.

Just like Rubi, the Foam-Coarsening experiment is supported by the Belgian User Support and Operations Centre (B.USOC). Operations centres such as B.USOC act as the link between scientists and the International Space Station, taking responsibility for the preparation and operation of experiments in contact with other ground control stations across Europe.

Smart surface research continues

From the brand new to the more familiar: research into the effectiveness of antimicrobial materials in microgravity is ongoing throughan experiment called Matiss.

Matiss-2 experiment on the Space Station

Commissioned by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet during his Proxima mission, this experiment has been running in different forms on the Station since 2016. It aims to understand how ‘smart surfaces’ on the International Space Station could stem the spread of pathogens, with potential to help the development of antimicrobial surfaces for use on elevator buttons and door handles, bars, public transport and other high-traffic areas on Earth. Findings will also be of value in the design of future spacecraft, where the need to reduce the risk of illness or infection for astronauts is even greater than in low Earth orbit.

The second set of Matiss surface samples were returned to Earth in September 2019 for analysis. At this time, NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan also installed a new set of two sample holders in Columbus for a period of six months. These aim to test new patterned hydrophobic (liquid-repelling) surfaces.

Drew wraps up Acoustic Diagnostics

How loud is space?

As this summary of Space Station science draws to a close, so too has the final session of Italian space agency ASI’s experiment Acoustic Diagnostics with Andrew Morgan. Drew performed his last session on 20 March. The sessions are relatively passive for crew members as inner ear sensors detect the movement of hairs in response to auditory stimulation.

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano also participated in this study during his Beyond mission. It aims to assess the possible adverse effects of noise and the microgravity environment of the Space Station on human hearing. If you are interested in hearing what astronauts hear during this experiment as well as some of the other sounds of space, tune into episode four of the ESA Explores Beyond series podcast.

Related article:

Smart surfaces for space hygiene
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/04/smart-surfaces-for-space-hygiene.html

Related links:

Beyond series podcast episode four: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-abyhy-bfae33?utm_campaign=u_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=u_share

Proxima mission: http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Proxima

Matiss: http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Proxima

Rubi: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/09/Space_bubble#.XoX0B4EtAGE.link

ColKa: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/Space_station_to_forge_ultra-fast_connections

Bartolomeo: http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Bartolomeo_heading_for_space_to_join_Columbus

Human and Robotic Exploration: http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration

Science & Exploration: http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration

International Space Station (ISS): http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station

Images, video, Text, Credits: ESA/NASA.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

High-Altitude Hazes on Jupiter

NASA - JUNO Mission logo.

April 5, 2020

NASA’s Juno mission captured this look at Jupiter’s tumultuous northern regions during the spacecraft’s close approach to the planet on Feb. 17, 2020.

Some notable features in this view are the long, thin bands that run through the center of the image from top to bottom. Juno has observed these long streaks since its first close pass by Jupiter in 2016. The streaks are layers of haze particles that float above the underlying cloud features. Scientists don’t yet know exactly what these hazes are made of or how they form. Two jet streams in Jupiter’s atmosphere flank either side of the region where the narrow bands of haze typically appear, and some researchers speculate those jet streams may influence the formation of the high hazes.

This JunoCam image was processed by citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt. It was taken on Feb. 17, 2020 at 9:29 a.m. PST (12:29 p.m. EST), as the Juno spacecraft performed its 25th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was about 15,610 miles (25,120 kilometers) from the planet’s cloud tops at a latitude of about 71 degrees North.

JUNO spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. Animation Credit: NASA

JunoCam's raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at https://missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing.   

More information about Juno is at https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.swri.edu.

Image Credits: Image data: NASA/JPL/SwRI/MSSS/Image processing by Gerald Eichstädt/Text Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/Animation (mentioned).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Mission to Mars

Cyprus Spacewalk Space Festival 2020 poster / Orbiter.ch Aerospace logo.

April 4, 2020

Anticipation article dedicated to the Cyprus Spacewalk Space Festival 2020, which unfortunately will not take place this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earth moving away

2035, ten years after the return of man to the Moon, here we are from Earth's orbit in the direction of Mars. A trip of longer in automatic mode's of one year trip with the return.

 Mars

Six months later, here we are at the Matian Gateway, ready to dock with the Mars orbital station. Our Antares spacecraft releases the Martian Ares lander. This will dock with the Matian Gateway. Then it's our turn.

Mission to Mars

Once these maneuvers have been carried out, we disembark and take our places in the orbital station. The crew is divided into two groups: the one who will remain in the station and those who will land on Mars, the roles have already been predefined since the start of the mission. The crew that remains on board the station is made up of a biologist / chemist and a specialist in planets and meteorologist as well as the pilot and engineer of Antares.

 Mars topography and locations

In the group that lands on Mars, there are two scientists and a mission specialist (pilot, engineer). The Ares lander is ready for departure from the orbital station, it unlocks, makes a remote maneuver and starts its main engine to start its descent on Mars.

Mars geology and locations

The Astronauts will live "seven minutes of terror" during the atmospheric entry phase, that of Mars is much less dense than that of Earth and is only 30 km thick. Lander landed on Mars, everything went well, the lander landed in the right place, at Solis Planum near East of Valles Marineris. It is a small step for a man, but a big step for humanity.

Mars, the Paradise of Geologists and Mineralogists!

Mars, the Paradise of Geologists and Mineralogists! How many rock formations to explore, analyze, work awaits us! Astronauts install the first Martian Base. They deploy the transmission instrument and devices. Set up the compact nuclear power plant, projectors and deploy the Rover.

Mission to Mars 2

Geologist and mineralogist take the Rover to take an exploration trip to the edge of the Valles Marineris canyon. The view is breathtaking! They take the opportunity to collect soil and rock samples. Once the samples are loaded in the Rover, return to the "home" (Mars Base).

At the edge of Valles Marineris canyon

A month has passed and it is time to return to the Martian orbital station. Lift off smoothly and here we are in orbit. Approach to Gateway, docking at the station and unloading of Martian samples and transfer to the Antares spacecraft. Dismantling of the station and departure for the return to Earth.

End of mission.

Editor & writer note:

Hoping that this article will have made you travel a bit in these difficult times of confinement, a big thank you to the whole festival team and to the readers and see you next year for the 2021 edition. Best regards, take care, Roland Berga.

Related links:

KITION PLANETARIUM & OBSERVATORY (CYPRUS): http://www.astronomycyprus.eu/

KITION PLANETARIUM & OBSERVATORY (CYPRUS) on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kition/

Orbiter.ch Aerospace on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Orbiter.ch/

Orbiter.ch Aerospace - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Orbinaute

Orbiter.ch Space News: https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/

Orbiter.ch Space News, Daily: https://paper.li/Orbiter_ch/1306415282#/

Orbiter.ch Aerospace - Add-on's for Orbiter Space Flight Simulator: https://orbiter.jimdo.com/

Orbiter.ch Aerospace - Add-on's for Flight Simulator X (FSX) and IL-2 Sturmovik 1946: https://simulators.jimdo.com/

Images, Animations, Videos, Text, Credits: NASA/JPLCaltech/ESA/HubbleWikimedia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/ Orbiter.ch Aerospace Studio/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

3D Printing, Biology Research Make the Journey Back to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon

ISS - International Space Station logo.

April 3, 2020

On March 9, 2020, a Dragon cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station carrying dozens of scientific experiments as a part of SpaceX’s 20th cargo resupply mission. Now, Dragon heads home. On April 7, it is scheduled to undock from station, bringing samples, hardware and data from completed investigations back to Earth on its return trip.

Here are details on some of the investigations returning to the ground for further analysis and reporting of results.

Generating a nutritional meal

Image above: These BioNutrients packets aboard the International Space Station demonstrate a technology that enables on-demand production of human nutrients during long-duration space missions. Image Credit: NASA.

Planning ways to supply food for a multi-year mission on the Moon or Mars while keeping astronauts healthy on the long trip may require making fresh food and nutrients in space. BioNutrients demonstrates a technology that enables on-demand production of nutrients needed for during long-duration space missions.

Animation above: NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan works with packets for the BioNutrients investigation aboard the space station. Animation Credit: NASA.

The process uses microbes, such as baker’s yeast, expressly engineered to make fresh nutrients for human consumption starting from dry powdered media — food for the yeast — and water. The fresh nutrients can supplement potential vitamin losses from food that is stored for very long periods. Over the five-year period of the demonstration, astronauts intermittently activate specially designed packets containing the yeast — or other microorganisms, in the future — and their food. They warm the packets for two days to allow the yeast to do its job, growing and producing the desired nutrients, and then freeze them for return to Earth for analysis. These tests will allow scientists to check how long their specially engineered yeast can be stored on the shelf and still be able to churn out fresh nutrients that humans need to stay healthy in space. Some samples will be returning on this SpaceX Dragon capsule. Although designed for space, this system also could help provide nutrition for people in remote areas of our planet.

Toward printing human organs in space

Biological printing of the tiny, complex structures found inside human organs, such as capillaries, has proven difficult in Earth’s gravity. Under Earth’s gravity, an initial scaffolding, or support structure, is necessary to form the desired shape of the tissue. The BioFabrication Facility (BFF) attempts to take the first steps toward printing human organs and tissues in microgravity using ultra-fine layers of bioink that may be several times smaller than the width of a human hair. This research is part of a long-term plan to manufacture entire human organs in space using refined biological 3D printing techniques.

Image above: NASA astronaut Christina Koch handles media bags for the BioFabrication Facility (BFF), a 3D biological printer that could become a part of a larger system capable of manufacturing fully functioning human organs in microgravity. Image Credit: NASA.

Launched to station in July 2019 on the 18th SpaceX cargo resupply flight, the facility now comes back to Earth. According to Techshot President and CEO John Vellinger, the facility has proven basic functionality. The team is bringing the facility back to Earth to make upgrades that will enable high throughput use when it returns to the space station.

Helping the heart

The Engineered Heart Tissues study looks at how human heart tissue functions in space. It uses unique 3D tissues made from heart cells derived from human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs), essentially adult stem cells. The engineered heart tissues, or EHTs, are complex 3D structures, each about the size of a few grains of rice. These structures are more similar to tissues in the body than flat cell cultures in a petri dish or those floating in a flask of liquid.

Image above: NASA astronaut Jessica Meir works on a media change for the Engineered Heart Tissues investigation inside the Life Sciences Glovebox. Image Credit: NASA.

Researchers expect significant differences in function, structure and gene expression between EHTs in microgravity and those on the ground. Understanding these differences could help them find ways to prevent or mitigate problematic changes on future long-duration missions. The hardware developed for the experiment also has created advanced, more efficient and more cost-effective technology for use on Earth. Researchers are bringing some EHTs back to Earth to see whether they recover from changes thought to occur in microgravity.

Biofilm festival

Animation above: NASA astronaut Christina Koch conducts operations for Space Biofilms. This investigation examines microbial species and their formation of biofilms, communities of microorganisms that attach to each other and to different surfaces. Animation Credit: NASA.

Samples from the Space Biofilms investigation, which examines microbial species and their formation of biofilms, are returning on Dragon. Biofilms are collections of one or more types of microorganisms – including bacteria, fungi and protists – that grow on wet surfaces. In spacecraft, biofilm formation can cause equipment malfunction and human illness, and it could pose a serious problem on future long-term human space missions. Better control of biofilms may help maintain crewed spacecraft and protect the health and safety of crew members as well as help prevent the introduction of Earth-based microbes to planetary bodies on which humans land.

Examining amyloid formation in microgravity

Image above: NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague are pictured inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. Hague was setting up the Microgravity Sciences Glovebox to begin operations for the Ring-Sheared Drop experiment
to understand how fluids flow in the human body and other materials. Image Credit: NASA.

The Ring Sheared Drop investigation takes advantage of the fact that fluids float in microgravity, allowing researchers to examine formation of amyloid fibrils in liquids held together by surface tension rather than by a container. Amyloids are abnormal fibrous deposits found in organs and tissues and are associated with neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. These proteins can denature -- or lose characteristic properties -- and precipitate, or come out of solution. As they accumulate over time, they may disrupt the healthy function of tissues and organs. Results from this experiment could contribute to a better understanding of and treatments for these neurodegenerative diseases. Data on the flow of liquids without the complications associated with solid walls also could contribute to development of advanced materials. Samples from this experiment are returning on Dragon.

Related links:

BioNutrients: https://www.nasa.gov/ames/bionutrients

BioFabrication Facility (BFF): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7599

Engineered Heart Tissues: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8217

Space Biofilms: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7955

Ring Sheared Drop: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7383

ISS National Lab: https://www.issnationallab.org/

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/JSC/International Space Station Program Research Office/Erin Winick.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Captures a Cannibal Galaxy

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

April 3, 2020

This remarkable spiral galaxy, known as NGC 4651, may look serene and peaceful as it swirls in the vast, silent emptiness of space, but don’t be fooled — it keeps a violent secret. It is believed that this galaxy consumed another smaller galaxy to become the large and beautiful spiral that we observe today.

Although only a telescope like the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which captured this image, could give us a picture this clear, NGC 4651 can also be observed with an amateur telescope — so if you have a telescope at home and a star-gazing eye, look out for this glittering carnivorous spiral.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Text Credits: ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA/Rob Garner/Image,Animation Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Leonard.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of March 30, 2020

ISS - Expedition 62 Mission patch.

April 3, 2020

The week of March 30, scientific investigations conducted aboard the International Space Station included studies of plant growth and a foam pellet manufacturing process in space.

Image above: NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan works on packing operations in preparation for the departure of SpaceX’s Dragon resupply craft, scheduled for Monday, April 6. Morgan is wearing a “penguin suit” used to provide body compression for a few weeks before crew members leave the space station. Morgan and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir are scheduled to return to Earth on April 17 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 crew ship. Image Credit: NASA.

Now in its 20th year of continuous human presence, the space station provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space. Experience gained on the orbiting lab 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:

How does your microgravity garden grow?

Future long-duration space missions likely will need to grow their own food, but organisms, including plants, grow differently in space. Understanding how plants respond to microgravity and demonstrating their reliable growth on orbit are important steps toward that goal. Veggie PONDS (Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System) uses a passive nutrient delivery system and the station’s Veggie plant growth facility to cultivate lettuce and mizuna greens that are harvested on-orbit. The crew consumes some of the harvest and returns samples to Earth for analysis. During the week, crew members refilled the water reservoirs for the Veggie PONDS modules.

Students send code into space

Image above: The visual and infrared cameras on the AstroPi computers, shown in the Columbus European Laboratory of the space station. The project supports computing and coding curricula by allowing young people to write computer programs for space experiments with 'Life in Space' or 'Life on Earth' as themes. Image Credit: ESA.

This week, crew members upgraded system software on the space station’s AstroPi computers. These two augmented Raspberry Pi computers are equipped with hardware that measures the environment inside the space station, detects how the station moves through space, and picks up the Earth’s magnetic field. One has an infrared camera and the other a standard visible spectrum camera. The ESA (European Space Agency) AstroPi Challenge offers students and other young people the opportunity to conduct scientific investigations in space by writing computer programs or code for the AstroPis, with either 'Life in Space' or 'Life on Earth' as themes for their experiments.

A study with sole

BOOST Orbital Operations on Spheroid Tessellation (adidas BOOST™) examines the process of particle foam mold filling using different types of pellets. On Earth, adidas makes performance shoe midsoles from thousands of individual foam pellets blown into a mold and fused together. Using only one type of pellet creates uniform foam and shoe sole properties. Including multiple pellet types can give engineers the ability to change mechanical properties and optimize performance and comfort for athletes. Several factors influence the final position of pellets in the mold with multiple pellet types, however, and removing gravity from the equation allows engineers to focus on factors that they can change in the manufacturing process on Earth. During the week, the crew performed operations for the pellet distribution system with new procedures intended to increase the flow.

Determining the effects of long-term space travel

The crew performed routine maintenance for the continuing JAXA Mouse Habitat Unit-5 (MHU-5), which examines the effects of partial gravity on mice using the Centrifuge-equipped Biological Experiment Facility-L (CBEF-L) developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Stress caused by partial gravity may alter gene expression in cells of the body. This investigation analyzes any such alterations and their possible effects on development of germ cells, which carry genetic information and expression to subsequent generations.

Other investigations on which the crew performed work:

- Engineered Heart Tissues looks at how adult human heart tissue functions in space using a unique three-dimensional culture of adult human cardiac muscle tissue embedded with tiny magnetic posts and an external magnet-based sensor to provide real-time measurement of muscle contractions.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8217

- The Probiotics investigation from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) studies whether beneficial bacteria or probiotics can improve the intestinal microbiota and immune function and help protect astronaut health on long-duration space missions.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2047

- The Fluid Shifts investigation measures how much fluid moves from the lower to the upper body and in or out of cells and blood vessels, and determines the effect on fluid pressure in the head, vision and eye structures.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1126

- Bartolomeo is an external payload hosting facility from the ESA (European Space Agency) and Airbus designed to serve commercial and institutional users, hosting payloads as small as 3 Units (3U) and offering an unobstructed view both toward Earth and into space.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7799

Image above: The Canadarm2 robotic arm and Dextre, the fine-tuned robotic hand, extract Bartolomeo from the pressurized trunk of the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. Bartolomeo is an ESA (European Space Agency) platform to enable external science experiments conducted and controlled outside of the space station. Image Credit: NASA.

- Cardiac and Vessel Structure and Function with Long-Duration Space Flight and Recovery (Vascular Echo), sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), examines changes in blood vessels and the heart while crew members are in space and follows their recovery on return to Earth. The results could provide insight into potential countermeasures to help maintain the health of crew members on future missions and improve quality of life for people on Earth.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1664

Food Acceptability examines the effect of repetitive consumption of the food currently - available during spaceflight. “Menu fatigue” resulting from a limited choice of foods over time may contribute to the loss of body mass often experienced by crew members, potentially affecting astronaut health, especially as mission length increases.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

- Standard Measures captures an ongoing, optimized set of measures from crew members to characterize how their bodies adapt to living in space. Researchers use these measures to create a data repository for high-level monitoring of the effectiveness of countermeasures and better interpretation of health and performance outcomes.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7711

Space to Ground: Bartolomeo: 04/03/2020

Related links:

Expedition 62: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition62/index.html

Artemis: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

Veggie PONDS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7581

AstroPi: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7534

Adidas BOOST™: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8210

MHU-5: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8150

CBEF-L: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7697

ISS National Lab: https://www.issnationallab.org/

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/John Love, Lead Increment Scientist Expedition 62.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch