Station Science Top News: July 21, 2022
Researchers report on the on-ground and spaceflight validation of a user-friendly technology for extracting RNA from plant or animal tissue without the use of liquids. This tool creates new ways to assess long-term plant and animal responses to microgravity in real time, providing a greater understanding of how organisms adapt to space.
The One-Step Gene Sampling Tool experiment used miniature metal pins to prick samples and capture selected and purified high-quality mRNA from biological material without requiring pre-processing steps. This method is faster than the current RNA prep protocol used aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and is completely dry, allowing for multiple samples of the same specimen.
Documentation of gene sampler smart tubes 1 through 8 for the One-Step Gene Sampling Tool experiment aboard the International Space Station. Credits: NASA
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Two NASA-supported optical fiber manufacturing payloads arrived at the International Space Station aboard SpaceX CRS-25. The experiments attempt to demonstrate automated production of high-quality optical fibers in microgravity for use in applications on Earth. Telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, lasers for medical and scientific uses, and spectroscopy could benefit.
The payloads are Space Fibers 3, developed by FOMS, Inc., and the Orbital Fiber Optic Production Module (ORFOM) from Mercury Systems. During previous tests aboard the station, the Mercury Systems team produced fiber up to 65 feet long, but the process was largely manual and therefore time-consuming and expensive. To address this, both companies used parabolic flights to develop ways to increase automation and decrease astronaut interaction, which could help bring fiber production to industry scale. In the coming weeks, station astronauts will load raw materials into the production facility, while the rest of the operation — clamping the initial fiber draw onto a spool and then pulling the full length of thin optical fiber — will be automated.
Kyle McCormick (left) of FOMS Inc., and Steve Huning, research portfolio manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, test the Space Fibers 3 payload on a NASA-supported parabolic flight by Zero Gravity Corporation in November 2021. Credits: Zero Gravity Corporation/Steve Boxall
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The third decade of the space station is one of compounding results, where our research is building on and using results from past station studies.
For example:
- After several successful demonstrations validating their use, many tissue-chip studies are getting their chance at a second flight. These chips may make it possible to identify safe and effective drugs or vaccines much more quickly than the standard processes.
- Pressure-drop calculations generated by the Packed Bed Reactor Experiment team already have been successfully applied to other station experiments using high flow rates. The IntraVenous Fluid GENeration for Exploration Missions, or IVGEN, study, which tested the ability to generate water of sufficient quality for intravenous use in microgravity for medical emergencies, used these calculations to flush the system before the experiment.
- Data from many Earth science studies combined to become something greater. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 team seeks to understand plants and their role in the carbon cycle. Their station neighbor, ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, is looking at how plants respond to stress. Nearby Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation analyzes how much plant material is on the ground. Scientists are examining how they can use all these data together to better understand the full picture of plants’ contributions to the Earth’s carbon cycle.
Reminder: The ISS Benefits for Humanity 2022 publication is out now!
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