Now, a new batch of experiments has arrived at the orbiting lab, tackling topics such as 3D bioprinting, plant adaptation – and even fertility in space. We take a look at some of the experiments sent on the latest Northrop Grumman resupply mission for NASA, which arrived at the ISS on Wednesday.
Study of human fertility
Could humans one day inhabit space? It’s still a very distant scenario, but to prepare for this possibility, scientists are studying what spending long periods of time in reduced gravity might do to our fertility. As part of the OVOSPACE research, which is funded by NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), researchers are studying how microgravity affects ovarian cells. They sent bovine ovarian cells to the ISS to examine how the growth of those cells might be affected by space, part of research they say could also lead to improved fertility treatments on Earth. Living for extended periods of time in the reduced gravity of the Moon or Mars could damage fertility, explains lead researcher Mariano Bizzarri, from the department of experimental medicine at Rome’s Sapienza University. “This threatens the goal of creating permanent or extended settlements beyond Earth,” he said in a statement. “Dysregulation of reproductive functions can also create additional health risks,” he added. The research results could improve our understanding of egg development and identify treatments to protect human reproductive potential on future space missions, Bizzarri said. “This research could also support the development of treatments to improve or restore fertility in humans on Earth.”
3D printing of human tissue in space
Doctors have long dreamed of being able to 3D print organs on demand, something researchers hope microgravity can facilitate. However, printing tiny, complex structures found inside human organs, such as capillaries, has proven difficult to achieve in the environment of Earth’s gravity, say researchers behind the BioFabrication Facility, a 3D bioprinter. Therefore, they hope that printing organ-like tissues in microgravity could act as a stepping stone to creating entire human organs in space. In 2019, the BioFabrication Facility successfully printed a partial human knee meniscus as well as human heart cells during its first trip to space. An upgraded version of the 3D printer will create knee cartilage tissue on the ISS, using bioinks and cells to see if microgravity printing can produce higher-quality tissue samples than those printed on Earth.
How plants adapt to space
Another experiment on the ISS is looking at how plants adapt to space, research that could one day lead to better food as well as better air and water purification systems for future space missions. As part of the Plant Habitat-03 research, seeds produced by plants grown in space are returned to Earth, processed and thrown back into space. Researchers are studying whether this gives an adaptive advantage to the next generation. Plants exposed to spaceflight undergo changes that include adding extra information to their DNA, which regulates how genes are turned on or off, but does not change the sequence of the DNA itself. This process is called epigenetic change, the researchers explain. They want to find out if these adaptations in one generation of plants grown in space can be carried over to the next generation. “This could provide insight into how to grow repeated generations of crops to provide food and other services on future space missions,” they said. The results could also help develop better strategies for adapting crops to sparsely populated habitats here on Earth.
First satellites from Uganda and Zimbabwe
Alongside these experiments, the first satellites from Uganda and Zimbabwe also arrived at the ISS. The CubeSats (essentially, mini cube-shaped satellites) developed by students from Uganda, Zimbabwe and Japan will collect data about Earth that can then be applied to their home countries. The satellites were developed as part of a cross-border university project enabling students from developing countries to gain practical experience of developing satellites.
Study of hazardous mudslides
The space will also help scientists study dangerous mudslides, particularly the catastrophic ones that can occur after a wildfire. When a fire burns plants, the burned chemicals create a thin layer of soil that repels rainwater, researchers say. Rain then erodes the soil and this can turn into destructive mudslides made up of sand, water and trapped air, carrying heavy rocks and debris downhill. “Gravity plays a critical role in the process by driving air up and out of the mixture and particles at the bottom of the water,” said lead researcher Ingrid Tomac, an assistant professor in the structural engineering department at the University of California, San Diego. “Removing gravity, therefore, could provide insight into the dynamics of the internal structure of these sand-water-air mixtures and a basis for their behavior.” Researchers on the ISS will examine a slurry of air, water and sand in microgravity to better understand the properties of these dangerous mudflows, hopefully helping us better predict and model these events.
