Space Station Top News: Oct. 28, 2021

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission is set to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on Nov. 3. Also aboard Dragon will be more than 150 pounds of station science experiments. Research riding with Crew-3 into low-Earth orbit includes:

• The Smartphone Video Guidance System (SVGS), a low-cost, commercial-off-the-shelf implementation of advanced sensors designed for automated rendezvous and capture of spacecraft. The system will be tested using the station’s Astrobee free-flying robots. If successful, the system could be used in future multi-spacecraft formations of small satellites.
• Uniform Protein Crystal Growth (UPCG), which aims to grow a batch of near perfect nanocrystals of riboswitch RNA, which is responsible for switching individual genes on and off. Findings could help researchers better understand the process of gene switching, which has potential applications in biotechnology and medicine. UPCG is planned to launch aboard Crew-3 and return to Earth soon after with Crew-2.
• The ESA (European Space Agency) study EasyMotion, which aims to increase the efficiency of exercise using electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), a strengthening technique in which muscles are stimulated by applying electrical impulses. On the space station, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will use a specialized EMS suit launching with Crew-3 aboard Dragon to complement his exercise program of running, cycling, and strength training to increase the efficiency of exercise.

RNA crystals grown on Earth are evaluated under a polarized microscope as part of the pre-flight Experiment Validation Test for the Uniform Protein Crystal Growth experiment. Credits: Jason R. Stagno, Ph.D. & Yun-Xing Wang, Ph.D., Protein-Nucleic Acid Interaction Section, Center for Structural Biology, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS

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Results from the Advanced Plant Experiment-04 (APEX-04) study found one form of genetically altered Arabidopsis plant adapts poorly to space in comparison to the unaltered control plant. This provides genetic insights into what allows for improved plant adaptation to microgravity.

Spaceflight causes several changes to animals and plants, and those that take place on a molecular level can affect how the organism grows without altering its outward appearance. The APEX-04 space station study tested how two different types of genetically altered Arabidopsis plants adapted to space. Researchers found that disruption of elongator complex subunit 2 (elp2-5), a mechanism that controls gene expression, results in poor development in spaceflight grown plants and a diminished, dramatically reprogrammed RNA transcription process. The results give new insight into plants’ molecular responses to spaceflight, which benefits efforts to grow plants in space for food and oxygen for deep space missions.

Learn more about space station epigenetics research.

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A ROSCOSMOS study observing leg vein health in cosmonauts found that good muscular health in lower extremities supports vein structure and function, demonstrating that physical exercise is a promising countermeasure to mitigate cardiovascular issues.

​Previous studies have demonstrated vein structure can change soon upon arrival to the space station, with more prominent changes occurring from the hip down. In Cardio-ODNT, a ROSCOSMOS study, researchers examined leg vein health in cosmonauts who participated in two six-month spaceflight missions. These results reveal that participation in two missions does not worsen leg vein health if substantial time is taken between flights and astronauts have adequate leg muscle. These findings suggest that good muscular health in lower extremities supports vein structure and function. This demonstrates that physical exercise is a promising countermeasure to mitigate orthostatic intolerance, where health issues are caused when standing upright in gravity.