HOUSTON (NASA PR) — The International Space Station is the setting today for a student competition to control tiny, free-floating satellites aboard the orbiting lab. Meanwhile, the Expedition 60 crewmembers conducted a variety of research operations and continued configuring a pair of spacesuits.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), August 12, 2019 (ISS U.S. National Laboratory PR) – The International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory is embarking upon a multi-year research alliance with the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM) at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to push the limits of biomedical research and development aboard the orbiting laboratory.
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WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded 15 grants for new space biology research designed to help the agency achieve its goals under the Artemis lunar exploration program. Teams of investigators will use state-of-the-art genetic and other biological techniques to explore how life adapts and changes during spaceflight, and the results could help support human exploration of the Moon, and ultimately, Mars.
Selected microbiology investigations will study whether changes in bacteria, fungi, and viruses are likely to affect how they interact with crew and material surroundings aboard the International Space Station, with an emphasis on likelihood to cause infections and microbial evolution.
The plant studies will determine important characteristics of plants relevant to space-farming methods for exploration missions. Topics for investigation include how interactions between microbes in soil and on plants change in spaceflight and changes in plant disease defense mechanisms.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., August 8, 2019 (ISS National Lab PR) – The International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory has announced two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) directed toward key areas of research that will utilize the orbiting platform. The announcement was made at the 8th annual ISS Research and Development Conference in Atlanta. The purpose of the RFPs is to solicit project concepts from investigators focused within one of two targeted areas for research and development.
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PARIS (ESA PR) — Over two weeks have flown by since ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano was launched to the International Space Station for his second six-month stay in orbit. His arrival, alongside NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos Soyuz commander Alexander Skvortsov, boosted the Station’s population to six and the crew has been busy ever since – performing a wide range of science in space.
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EDINBURGH, Scotland (UK Space Agency PR) — UK scientists lead international project to build world’s first space rock mining devices which use bacteria to recover minerals from rocks on the Moon and Mars.
Astronauts will test the devices on board the International Space Station, following the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket last night (at 23:01 BST, Thursday 25 July) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral.
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WEBSTER, Texas, July 29, 2019 (NanoRacks PR) — The 18th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station from SpaceX delivered a historic mission for NanoRacks. NanoRacks, the leading provider of commercial access to low-Earth orbit, transported the materials for the science experiments that will be conducted by the first Emirati astronaut upon his arrival to the International Space Station (ISS) in late September, 2019.
NanoRacks also launched the first-ever microgravity experiment from Young Living – the world-leader in essential oils, amongst other educational research. Collectively, this amounts to NanoRacks’ single largest mission to the Space Station to date.
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PARIS (ESA PR) — Three exciting ESA experiments are soon headed to the International Space Station on board a Dragon resupply mission. The SpaceX cargo vehicle is slated for launch 25 July from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The experiments will investigate a range of phenomena that could lead to novel space and Earth applications.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), July 18, 2019 (ISS National Lab PR) – Onboard SpaceX’s 18th commercial resupply services mission contracted by NASA, the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory will send 40 female mice to the microgravity environment of the orbiting platform to evaluate their adaptation off Earth. Rodent spaceflight experiments provide a broad range of translational data pertinent to biomedical advancements in neurology, muscle and bone physiology, immunology, and cardiovascular and developmental biology.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., July 17, 2019 (ISS National Lab PR) – A new facility will be launching to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX’s 18th commercial resupply services (CRS-18) mission, seeking to enable cutting-edge biotechnology research onboard the orbiting research laboratory. Techshot, a commercial facility partner, has partnered with NASA and the ISS U.S. National Laboratory to launch the first American bioprinter, known as the 3D BioFabrication Facility (BFF). The BFF is slated to launch to the space station no earlier than July 21, 7:35p.m. EDT aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., July 16, 2019 (ISS National Laboratory PR) – The International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory is proud to announce that The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company will be sending a materials science investigation onboard SpaceX’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-18) mission to the space station.
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BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (ESA PR) — The next astronauts to join the International Space Station are on their marks for their launch to Earth’s orbit on 20 July, a date that also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, Roscomos’ Alexander Skvortsov and NASA’s Andrew Morgan arrived last week at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for an intense schedule of pre-launch activities.
NASA has selected Techshot for funding to develop in-space manufacturing of microfluidic chips — aka, organs on chips (OOC) — for use in biological research aboard the International Space Station.
The space agency selected the project for funding under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I program. The six-month contract is worth a maximum of $125,000.
VIENNA (United Nations Information Service) — The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), in cooperation with the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) and with the support of the Government of China, published on 28 May 2018 the 1st “Announcement of Opportunity (AO)” under the United Nations/China Cooperation on the Utilization of the China Space Station (CSS) initiative, inviting all Member States of United Nations to submit applications for conducting their scientific experiments on board the CSS.
As of 30 September 2018, which was the application deadline, a total of 42 applications from institutions in 27 countries were received, and then carefully evaluated by around 60 experts from UNOOSA, CMSA and international space community, in line with the eligibility and selection criteria outlined in the first AO. Eighteen (18) projects out of the 42 received were shortlisted, and their Principal Investigators were invited to prepare their Implementation Scheme Proposals (ISPs) for further review towards a final selection. By the submission deadline of 20 April 2019, 15 ISPs from the 18 shortlisted were received and an in-depth review in terms of technical scheme, implementation feasibility, onboard resource requirements, safety analysis, risk analysis, and financial support for their own development was executed.
Joint Development of Automated, Modular Flow Chemistry Platform for Use On-Orbit
LEXINGTON, Ky., June 12, 2019 (Space Tango PR) — Space Tango announced today a collaboration with the Beeler Research Group from the Boston University Department of Chemistry to develop a fully-automated system to support chemical reactions on-orbit. The Beeler Research Group was selected by the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory to develop reactor systems for flow chemistry in space earlier this year. This work expands on existing liquid-liquid separation capabilities demonstrated last year by Mass Challenge Winner Zaiput Flow Technologies and Space Tango, on the International Space Station.
