Tag: Biological & Physical Sciences

NASA Science on Health, Safety to Launch on 31st SpaceX Resupply Mission

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5 min read NASA Science on Health, Safety to Launch on 31st SpaceX Resupply Mission New science experiments for NASA are set to launch aboard the agency’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The six investigations aim to contribute to cutting-edge discoveries by NASA scientists and research teams. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will liftoff aboard the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Science experiments aboard the spacecraft include a test to study smothering fires in space,…

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NASA Selects Two Teams to Advance Life Sciences Research in Space 

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3 min read NASA Selects Two Teams to Advance Life Sciences Research in Space  NASA announced two awards Thursday to establish scientific consortia – multi-institutional coalitions to conduct ground-based studies that help address the agency’s goals of maintaining a sustained human presence in space. These consortia will focus on biological systems research in the areas of animal and human models, plants, and microbiology. When fully implemented, the awards for these consortia will total about $5 million.  Space biology efforts at NASA use the unique environment of space to conduct experiments…

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Spooky on the Space Station

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Science in Space: October 2024 Cultures around the world celebrate Halloween on Oct 31. In many places, in addition to people wearing costumes and eating candy, this day is associated with spooky decorating using fake blood, skeletons, flies, and spiders, some of them glow-in-the-dark. Crew members on the International Space Station have been known to indulge in a bit of dressing up and candy consumption to mark the day, and the research they conduct year-round occasionally involves these iconic…

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Tissue Chips Accurately Model Organs in Space

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NASA astronaut Jessica Meir conducts cardiac research using tissue chip platforms in the Life Sciences Glovebox aboard space station in March of 2022. NASA The International Space Station offers a unique microgravity environment where cells outside the human body behave similarly to how they do inside the human body. Tissue chips are small devices containing living cells that mimic complex functions of specific human tissues and organs. Researchers can run experiments using tissue chips aboard space station to understand disease progression and provide faster and safer alternatives for preparing medicine…

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Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement in Colorado

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Learn Home Culturally Inclusive Planetary… Biological & Physical… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science   2 min read Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement in Colorado In August 2024, the NASA Science Activation program’s Planetary Resources and Content Heroes (ReaCH) project held a Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement workshop at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado for the planetary science community. These workshops are designed to enhance the ability of scientists to engage Black and Latinx youth and their families…

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Concludes Space Station Scientific Mission

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6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are returning to Earth after months aboard the International Space Station conducting scientific experiments and technology demonstrations for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. The four launched on March 3 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Here’s a look at some scientific milestones accomplished during their mission: Revealing resistant microorganisms NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps extracts DNA for the Genomic Enumeration…

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Pioneer of Change: America Reyes Wang Makes NASA Space Biology More Open

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4 min read Pioneer of Change: America Reyes Wang Makes NASA Space Biology More Open America Reyes Wang, the lead of the the Space Biology Biospecimen Sharing Program at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, stands beside a spacesuit display. Photo courtesy of America Reyes Wang As humans return to the Moon and push on toward Mars, scientists are ramping up research into the effects of space on the body to make sure astronauts stay healthy on longer missions. This research often involves spaceflight studies of rodents, insects,…

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NASA Demonstrates ‘Ultra-Cool’ Quantum Sensor for First Time in Space

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NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, shown where it’s installed aboard the International Space Station, recently demonstrated the use of a tool called an atom interferometer that can precisely measure gravity and other forces — and has many potential applications in space. NASA/JPL-Caltech Future space missions could use quantum technology to track water on Earth, explore the composition of moons and other planets, or probe mysterious cosmic phenomena. NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, a first-of-its-kind facility aboard the International Space Station, has taken another step toward revolutionizing how quantum science can be used…

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NASA Sends More Science to Space, More Strides for Future Exploration

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New experiments aboard NASA’s Northrop Grumman 21st cargo resupply mission aim to pioneer scientific discoveries in microgravity on the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, filled with nearly 8,500 pounds of supplies, launched Aug. 4 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Biological and physical investigations aboard the spacecraft included experiments studying the impacts of microgravity on plants (grass), how packed bed reactors could improve water purification both in space and on Earth, and observations on new…

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Seed Funding Proposals Due November 19 This Year!

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Since it began in 2020, NASA’s Citizen Science Seed Funding Program (CSSFP) has helped twenty-four new NASA citizen science projects get off the ground. This one-year funding opportunity aims to expand the pool of professional scientists who use citizen science techniques in their science investigations. We’d like to remind you about two key changes to the CSSFP program this year! First, we heard that researchers could make better use of seed funding if it arrived in time to enable work during the summer — a crucial season for students, faculty, and interns.  To…

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