Science in Space: December 2023 Imagine someone needs a heart transplant and scientists take cells from that person to create an entire new heart for them. Research on the International Space Station is helping to bring that dream closer to reality. The process of 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) enables the design and production of one-of-a-kind items made of plastic, metal, and other materials, including tools, equipment, and even buildings. Biological printing or bioprinting uses living cells, proteins, and nutrients as raw materials and has the potential to…
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Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser New Station Resupply Spacecraft for NASA
NASA and Sierra Space are making progress on the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. The uncrewed cargo spaceplane is planned to launch its demonstration mission in 2024 to the orbital complex as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services. Sierra Space NASA and Sierra Space are making progress on the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. The uncrewed cargo spaceplane is planned to launch its demonstration mission in 2024 to the orbital complex as part of…
Read MoreNASA: Una jugosa historia de tomates en la Estación Espacial Internacional
El cultivo de alimentos a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional es una de las muchas investigaciones que han alcanzado la madurez para las misiones de vuelos espaciales de larga duración a la Luna y Marte. El astronauta de la NASA Frank Rubio compartió recientemente una jugosa historia de dos tomates rebeldes, a los que había perdido el rastro accidentalmente mientras recogía la cosecha para el experimento Sistema de Prueba en Órbita de Raíces Expuestas (XROOTS, por sus siglas en inglés) que llevó a cabo durante su permanencia a bordo…
Read MoreNASA: Let’s Ketchup on International Space Station Tomato Research
Two rogue tomatoes have been recovered nearly a year after astronaut Frank Rubio accidentally lost track of them while harvesting for the XROOTS experiment. NASA NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is photographed performing fluid management and seed cartridge/plant inspections for the XROOTS experiment. Growing food aboard the International Space Station is one of the many research investigations ripe for long duration spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio recently shared the saucy story of two rogue tomatoes, which he had accidentally lost track of while harvesting for…
Read MoreNASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link
3 Min Read NASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload at Goddard Space Flight Center fully tested and integrated prior to its delivery to Kennedy Space Center. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center A NASA technology experiment on the International Space Station completed its first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system on Dec. 5, 2023. Together, they complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system. NASA’s LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) and the new space station demonstration, ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit…
Read MoreNASA’s Commercial Partners Continue Progress on New Space Stations
Three NASA-funded commercial space station partners are on track for the design and development of their orbital destinations and the transition of agency’s low Earth orbit needs from the International Space Station. “We are ending the year on a high note with multiple important milestones being completed by our partners,” said Angela Hart, manager of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Over the past few months, we have been able to dig into the details of the specific hardware and processes of…
Read MoreNASA Invites Media to Northrop Grumman, SpaceX Space Station Launch
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft’s pressurized cargo module for the company’s 20th commercial resupply mission is lifted and moved by crane inside the high bay in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Cygnus, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. NASA/Ben Smegelsky Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International…
Read MoreCounteracting Bone and Muscle Loss in Microgravity
In microgravity, without the continuous load of Earth’s gravity, the tissues that make up bones reshape themselves. Bone cells readjust their behaviors—the cells that build new bone slow down, while the cells that break down old or damaged bone tissue keep operating at their normal pace so that breakdown outpaces growth, producing weaker and more brittle bones. For every month in space, astronauts’ weight-bearing bones become roughly 1% less dense if they don’t take precautions to counter this loss. Muscles, usually activated by simply moving around on Earth, also weaken…
Read MoreHam Radio in Space: Engaging with Students Worldwide for 40 Years
In May 2018, a student at Mill Springs Academy in Alpharetta, Georgia, Andrew Maichle, talked to NASA astronaut Scott Tingle on the International Space Station via amateur or ham radio. The experience profoundly affected Maichle, who went on to study electrical engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina. “It was so cool to see in real time the utmost levels of what people in science are able to accomplish, and to talk to and interact with someone at that level,” Maichle recalls. “The space station is an incredible work of…
Read MoreNASA’s Cold Atom Lab Sets Stage for Quantum Chemistry in Space
7 min read NASA’s Cold Atom Lab Sets Stage for Quantum Chemistry in Space This animation depicts six finely tuned lasers used inside NASA’s Cold Atom Lab to slow down atoms, lowering their temperature. Scientists can now use the lab to see how different types of atoms interact with each other at these cold temperatures. NASA/JPL-Caltech The remotely operated facility aboard the International Space Station has created another tool that researchers can use to probe the fundamental nature of the world around us. For the first time in space, scientists…
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