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Nanoparticles carrying drugs, an algae bioreactor, a microgravity platform and various "organs-on-a-chip" will travel to the International Space Station on Wednesday morning (May 1st) aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.
The crew of the International Space Station is unpacking tons of cargo transported by Northrop Grumman's Cygnus Shuttle last week, and they are preparing to take a second shot. This one, on the dragon, will bring more than 3,270 pounds. (1,691 kilograms) scientific payloads among other crew tools and supplies. When he leaves, the Dragon spaceship will carry 2269 pounds. (1,029 kg) of experiments back on Earth for analysis, NASA officials said at a press conference on April 22.
The launch of the cargo, aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, is scheduled for Tuesday at 15:59 EDT (07:59 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida. You can watch the launch live online here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA.
Related: Launch of SpaceX Cargo on track despite the anomaly of the dragon of the crew
"At this launch, life science research will focus on the Dragon spacecraft," said Marc Giulianotti, a scientist at the US National Space Station Laboratory, at the conference. "We have a unique mix of partners for this mission, from a Fortune 500 biopharmaceutical company to innovative startups and academic institutions."
Mechanical and chemical systems are currently generating oxygen and water and removing carbon dioxide from the space station, but one day organic life could also play a role. The Photobioreactor, a new experiment that will visit the Dragon Station, will test the culture of micro-algae that will one day serve as food and source of oxygen.
For this experiment, about 650 milliliters of algae in a liquid will breathe the carbon dioxide provided by the astronauts, who will also occasionally provide nutrients. Eventually, astronauts will extract algae from the device to send them back to Earth for analysis.
This test will not see algae invade the crew's trim, researchers said at the press conference. But a method used to dry and prepare the seaweed on Earth, if it is suitable for space, could one day make it a delightful treat for astronauts.
NASA's Observatory of Orbiting Carbon 3 (OCO-3) will closely monitor the sources and sinks of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere from outside the International Space Station.
(Image: © NASA)
Just as algae could one day extract carbon dioxide from the ecosystem of the miniature space station, the biomass on Earth stores and releases carbon dioxide on a large scale. A new tool called the Orbit 3 Carbon Observatory (OCO-3), which will be located outside the space station, will measure atmospheric carbon dioxide and map gas sources and sinks.
This Hermes facility will allow scientists to study the behavior of the materials of the International Space Station.
(Image: © NASA / Johnson Space Center)
Dragon will also bring an in-orbit installation called Hermes that will be able to perform four experiments at a time for hours, days or months with video feedback, according to the a statement from NASA. Hermes will be able to host research on the formation of asteroids and comets, the dynamics of impacts and the evolution of the planet, researchers said.
Tissue chips, also called organs on fleas, are small devices that contain human cells in a matrix that scientists can use to test how the body reacts to stress and medications.
(Image: © NASA / Josh Valcarcel)
Four experiments leading to the space station focus on tissue chips: small devices that allow the growth of human cells in a 3D matrix, allowing astronauts to monitor simulated organ responses in space.
"These are miniature bioengineering devices that are about the size of a USB drive and that reproduce the structure and function of human organs and tissues in a very realistic way," said Lucie Low. , researcher at the National Institutes of Health. , said at the press conference. "These are essentially tools that can help us model different diseases and test the safety and efficacy of different drugs in a very realistic way without actually testing these drugs in humans and in people. 39; animal ".
Researchers have partnered with NASA to adapt tissue fragments for use in space. This set will include a fragment of lung and bone marrow, a fragment of cartilage and bone, a fragment simulating the blood-brain barrier and allowing to cultivate kidney cells.
While tissue chip technology is improving for use on Earth, the space station is a particularly good place for this kind of research: "The causes of microgravity changes in human health and physiology that look a lot like those associated with different types of aging, "Low said. You see things like muscle and bone loss, changes in the cardiovascular system, changes in the immune system.
"And we can actually use this type of accelerated aging environment to help study microgravity diseases in a matter of weeks, but it could take years to study on Earth or even to become something that could be seen clinically" she added.
This device, called mini PCR, allows astronauts to investigate DNA in space as part of the Genes in Space program.
(Image: © NASA)
This cargo delivery will also include the final leg of the Genes in Space mission, designed by the students, Genes in Space-6, which will track how the yeast DNA was broken using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing repairs and mutes in space. The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will carry out another operation to manufacture nanoparticles that could one day allow targeted drug delivery.
NASA plans an increase in science on the station, now that astronaut Christina Koch has been instructed to stay on the space station almost a year, increasing the length of time that there will be four NASA crew members on board.
"The fourth additional crew member actually doubles the time we can spend on research," said Jennifer Buckley, a scientist on the International Space Station program, at the press conference.
Email Sarah Lewin at [email protected] or follow her. @SarahExplains. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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