Blogs

Cardiac research and 3D bioprinting aboard the International Space Station today are helping NASA improve health for humans in space and on Earth. The three Expedition 62 crewmembers also participated in eye exams and radiation checks. Three new Expedition 63 crewmembers are in Kazakhstan just two weeks away from beginning a 195-day mission on the …

Engineered Heart Tissues: The crew performed sample fixations on selected tissue chambers and performed cell culture media exchanges on the remaining tissue chambers. A Human iPSC-based 3D Micro-physiological System for Modeling Cardiac Dysfunction in Microgravity (Engineered Heart Tissues) assesses human cardiac function in microgravity. It uses 3D cultured cardiac muscle tissue that mimics the architecture …

The Mars 2020 mission involving NASA's newly named rover — Perseverance — received a significant boost following the completion of important testing at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Activities to measure mass properties of the Cruise Stage vehicle were performed on the spin table inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. Successful testing also …

EPO AstroPi: The crew inserted the AstroPi Micro SD card into SSC 11 and 19 in order to upgrade AstroPi OS software from Visual cameras to Infrared camera capability on laptops. In the European AstroPi Challenge, students and young people are offered the amazing opportunity to conduct scientific investigations in space by writing computer programs …

Robotic controllers unloaded new research hardware off a U.S. cargo craft today for installation outside the International Space Station. Inside the orbital lab, the Expedition 62 crew continued exploring microgravity’s impact on a variety of life forms. The reusable SpaceX Dragon resupply ship today offered the Bartolomeo science payload system for installation on Europe’s Columbus …

Transparent Alloys-SEBA: The crew successfully exchanged the Transparent Alloys Cartridge. The aim of the Transparent Alloys-SEBA (Solidification along an Eutectic Path in Binary Alloys) experiment is to study the morphological instabilities of directional solidified, transparent binary eutectic alloys under purely diffusive conditions. This experiment provides a real-time observation of the dynamics of eutectic front structures …

Ultrasound scans and eye checks aboard the International Space Station today are helping doctors understand how the Expedition 62 crew is adapting to microgravity. Back on Earth, a new crew is in final preparations for its launch next month. NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Meir spent Tuesday morning on biomedical duty and scanned her leg arteries …

JAXA MHU-5 (JAXA Mouse Habitat Unit-5): The crew performed routine mouse habitat maintenance activities for the continuing Mouse Mission-5 investigation. JAXA Mouse Habitat Unit-5 (MHU-5) examines the effects of partial G on mice using the JAXA-developed mouse habitat cage units (HCU) that can be installed in the newly developed Centrifuge-equipped Biological Experiment Facility-L (CBEF-L) on …

Vision tests and a variety of advanced biology research activities took place aboard the International Space Station today. The Expedition 62 crew also serviced several computers and life support gear as a new crew gets ready for launch next month. Each crewmember had a vision acuity test today, with NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan starting first …

Acoustic Diagnostics: The crew set up the appropriate hardware, performed the audio measurements, and used the EveryWear application to answer the questionnaires.  The investigation tests the hearing of ISS crew members before, during, and after flight. This study assesses the possible adverse effects of noise and the microgravity environment aboard the ISS on human hearing. …