astronaut experiments in space

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• 03 November 2020

Astronauts have conducted nearly 3,000 science experiments aboard the ISS

• Alexandra Witze

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Twenty years ago this week, on 2 November 2000, one astronaut and two cosmonauts opened the door to the newly constructed International Space Station (ISS) and floated in. It was the beginning of two decades of humans permanently living and working aboard the orbiting outpost.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03085-8

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20 Top Experiments From 20 Years of Human Research on the International Space Station

As the world celebrates two decades of humans in orbit around Earth on the International Space Station , this month’s science summary will look back not at four weeks of European research in space, but 20 years – with a focus on human research, naturally.

In November 2000 the first human entered the two-module International Space Station and ESA ran its first experiment just three months later.

ESA’s human spaceflight research coordinator Jennifer Ngo-Anh explains the benefits of Space Station research, “We typically run three types of experiments, research that cannot be done on Earth, research to understand and improve astronaut health and research that exploits the unique aspect of sending perfectly healthy and fit humans into a new and stressful environment.”

“As you will see from the list below, this research is helping us explore farther into our Solar System, but it benefits people on Earth with new knowledge, new technology, and new techniques – spaceflight is a motor for ingenuity.”

Here are 20 of ESA’s favorite experiments from two decades of habitation:

• Brain-DTI This study took brain scans of astronauts to measure ‘plasticity’ or how quickly their brains adapt to new inputs. The reassuring conclusion is that brains adapt surprisingly well, though research is hinting that the effects of floating in weightlessness mark the brain forever.

• 42 is the answer The Biolab facility in Columbus was used to investigate the time it takes for mammal immune cells to adapt to microgravity: 42 seconds, coincidentally the meaning of life according to Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the number of the Space Station Expedition that performed the experiment!
• Circadian Rhythms This experiment monitors an astronaut’s body temperature to learn about our internal clock. A novel non-invasive thermometer was designed and marketed on Earth to get results that amazed researchers as it showed a sustained increase in body temperature.
• Endothelial cells Research into the cells that line our blood vessels is helping understand how and why they contract and expand, and why they have reduced functionality in old age on Earth.

• Growing blood vessels Not content with just observing blood vessels, how about growing new ones in space? This experiment exploited weightlessness to see if we can grow new three-dimensional organs. On Earth, gravity pulls the cells down making 3D-structures harder to achieve in the lab.
• Better sleep Sleep is important, and being alert even more so if you are about to dock two spacecraft many millions of kilometers away from Earth. But how do you ensure astronauts get a good night sleep when the Sun sets 16 times a day seen from the International Space Station? Structure, light and chemical aids if necessary is the answer (so far), and these findings apply to you on Earth too.
• Vessel-ID This experiment is not research into humans, but it did literally save lives. The Vessel-ID global traffic monitoring receiver was tested outside the Columbus laboratory and picked up a distress beacon from a fishing ship; search and rescue authorities were then notified. What we learned from this experiment is now flying as a stand-alone satellite .
• Stressed immune systems The Immuno experiment took a holistic approach to investigating stress by utilizing questionnaires, blood samples and temperature readings from the astronauts showing that the immune system goes haywire. Through necessity, researchers developed new ways of analyzing small quantities of blood, so as not to drain the astronauts’ already-depleted supplies. Now, the hardware and the methods used are being shared with the medical community to aid the care of at-risk new-borns, who have even less blood to spare for analysis.
• Osteoporosis – salt ain’t good Astronaut bones go through accelerated osteoporosis during spaceflight. This disease costs Europe around €25 billion a year and typically affects the elderly, resulting in brittle and fragile bones and broken hips and arms from falls. Studying astronauts in space showed that acidity in the body accelerates bone loss, and you can counteract the acidity by eating less salt or taking bicarbonate pills as a simple preventive measure. On Earth a study would take decades to see results, but the accelerated aging seen in astronauts allows researchers to fast-track ideas.

• 3D bone scanner To follow up on the above study in more detail, the EDOS-1 and 2 experiments required better medical scanners to see the finer structure of astronaut bones – so they created just that. The Xtreme CT scanner ESA helped develop can show the microscopic architecture of bones and their strength to monitor bones of everyone on and around Earth.
• Yeast Another experiment in Biolab investigated yeast strains that have been used to make bread and brew drinks for centuries. Unsurprisingly, in microgravity the yeast showed signs of stress and had problems building cell walls. The cells diverted their energy to repair themselves and grew less quickly. By analyzing the strains that performed better in microgravity, researchers could identify genes that could be used for longer space missions. Space-faring yeasts can be cultured for future missions to far-away planets – space bakery anyone?
• 5-LOX The 5-LOX enzyme regulates life expectancy of human cells. Most human cells divide and regenerate, but the number of times they replicate is limited. Italian researchers wanted to find out how this enzyme was affecting astronauts’ health in space and found that cells flown in space showed more 5-LOX activity than the centrifuged samples, giving scientists a target enzyme that could play a role in the weakening of immune systems. The enzyme can be blocked with existing drugs, so using these findings to improve human health is a close reality. Who knows what life-prolonging pills could be developed in the future, all thanks to a two-day space experiment.
• Finding the key A similar experiment put immune cells through artificial gravity in space and showed that a specific transmitter in the cells, called the Rel/NF-kB pathway, stops working in weightlessness. Finding which gene does what is like looking for the right key to fit a keyhole, without having found the keyhole yet. Studying cells that have flown on the International Space Station is putting researchers on the right path to finding the key to how our immune system works. The pharmaceutical industry could also find the genes that need to be active to fight specific illnesses and market tailored antibodies.
• Laser eyes Where do astronauts look in space? A simple question for science, but to answer it the research team behind this experiment needed to track the astronauts’ eyes at all times. New hardware was developed for this space research and it is now found in almost all laser-eye surgeries in Europe where surgical precision is key.

• Remote diagnosis Keeping an astronaut fit and healthy from a distance is the flight surgeon’s task on Earth. Not all astronauts can be medical doctors, so small, easy-to-use machines are required for diagnosis but also for research into human health. Great strides have been made over the last two decades in ultrasound machines, heart-rate monitors, thermometers as well as in operating and sending the data to medical professionals many thousands of kilometers away. The Tempus Pro machine is the culmination of this and can be used equally effectively all over our planet.
• Stay strong Strong muscles are hard work on Earth – and even harder in space where certain muscles used to walk or sit are not needed in weightlessness, the “antigravity muscles”. Studies have shown that astronauts experience up to a 20% loss of muscle mass in short-duration missions alone, which is worrying for an astronaut about to land on Mars after a nine-month flight. The Muscle Biopsy experiment is investigating how cells communicate (called signaling pathways). Researchers suspect cell communication is tied to gravity-sensing and that the cells communicate less in space. The study is still in progress but the science team already have images from muscle biopsies that show enlarged intramuscular tissue spaces after a flight, an initial confirmation of their hypothesis.
• Lung health How do lungs adapt to spaceflight? This Swedish-led study put astronauts in the Space Station’s airlock and pumped out air to reduce the pressure, showing surprising results in the nitric oxide levels exhaled. Researchers developed a drug with a uniquely selective effect in lung circulation. The drug widens the blood vessels and counteracts life-threatening increases of local blood pressure. On the Moon and Mars, astronauts’ lungs may become easily irritated or inflamed by dust particles as they don’t settle to the ground but circulate endlessly.

• Old age Our brains change all the time – nerves and connecting cells rearrange to every new experience, but become less good at it in old age. Scientists peered inside astronauts’ heads for the Neurospat experiment to understand how they adapt to their new environments and developed new tools for testing spatial cognition that will be of great help to our aging brains.
• Humans are cleaner than we thought For twenty years humans have been living in the closed International Space Station – without a shower to wash in. There is no place on Earth where researchers can investigate how bacteria evolve and live in such a tight-knit environment. Concern about rampant bacteria growth is always here, but it turns out that it is not that bad, with around 55 types of bacteria finding healthy equilibrium around the Space Station. This doesn’t mean that research is being done into easy-clean materials that will keep bacteria in check .
• Mix it up This series of experiments is physics-based, but looking at how liquids mix on a molecular level is improving shelf-life of medicine on Earth. The SODI experiments in essence observe two liquids together in weightlessness. As the two liquids constantly mingle and interfere with each other, the results are interesting for companies developing anti-body-based medicine that is notoriously known to be unstable liquids.

This is just a small selection of the European experiments run on the International Space Station that focus on human research. Around 400 ESA investigations have been performed since the first module was launched and thousands more are led by the four other space agencies that work together to keep the Space Station aloft: NASA , Russia’s Roscosmos , Japan’s JAXA , and the Canadian Space Agency.

With the Space Station set to continue running for many more years, the future is bright for research in our unique laboratory. “We listened to researchers and companies and are making space research more accessible, for example with companies offering services to design, build, fly and run experiments in one package deal,” says Jennifer.

“Research run on the Space Station almost always delivers surprising results, advancing our knowledge of the world, humankind and benefiting people on Earth. For 20 years we have been working on the forefront of where science and engineering meet, and I am looking forward to seeing many more years of interesting experiments and results.”

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Under the “Better Sleep section: The ISS is not millions of km away from the earth. The orbit averages 408km high.

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What we learned from scientific investigations on the space station in 2022, melissa l. gaskill.

Lee esta historia en español aquí .

The International Space Station, in its third decade of continuous human presence, has far-reaching impact as a microgravity lab hosting technology demonstrations and scientific investigations from a range of fields. Between Oct. 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2022, researchers published more than 400 scientific papers based on studies conducted aboard the space station.

Read highlights of some of the groundbreaking space station science published this past year below. For more space station research achievements and additional information about the findings mentioned here, check out the 2022 Annual Highlights of Results .

Tracking unique strains of microbes

Microbial Observatory-1 monitored the microbes present on the space station, identifying hundreds of microbial species. Researchers report finding three novel strains of Agrobacterium , a genus known for disease-causing characteristics. Results suggest that these strains could colonize habitats with fewer nutrients, giving them an advantage over those that need richer environments. The study of microbes offers insight to support development of mitigation strategies for maintaining safe living spaces for astronauts in spaceflight and for humans on Earth.

Protecting crew members’ brains

ISS Medical Monitoring regularly collects crew member health data that measures spaceflight’s effects on the human body. This information also is used for additional research studies. Researchers from ESA (European Space Agency) and State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS used crew member blood samples taken before and after extended exposure to microgravity to assess brain tissue biomarkers. They report an increase in blood-based biomarkers of inflammation that could indicate potential risk to long-duration spaceflight crews. Additional studies with larger samples are needed to clarify these findings.

Measuring magnetars

NICER studies the extraordinary physics of neutron stars, which are glowing cinders left behind by supernovas, or the explosions of massive stars. Researchers report the classification of a recently discovered astronomical object, Swift J1555.2-5402, as a magnetar. Magnetars are highly magnetized neutron stars that release an enormous amount of magnetic energy through irregular outbursts of X- and gamma-rays. Observations of these outbursts help scientists address a wide range of astronomical topics, increasing understanding of some of the most extreme conditions in the universe.

Cyanobacteria rock extreme environments

EXPOSE R-2 BIOMEX, an investigation from ESA, measures the survival of terrestrial organisms in extreme environments, which could provide insight into the characteristics that extraterrestrial life would need to survive in space. Researchers exposed the desert cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis to simulated Mars-like conditions in space and on the ground. They report no increased genetic variants in the space strain, suggesting that the strain retained its ability to repair accumulated DNA lesions caused by radiation exposure. Cyanobacteria have potential for use in artificial bioregenerative life support systems to provide oxygen and food in space and for fuel, fertilizers, marine farming, and pharmaceuticals on Earth.

How plants sense gravity

Gravity acts as an important influence on plant development on Earth. Plant Gravity Sensing, an investigation from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), studies whether plants grown in microgravity can sense changes in gravity. Researchers report that Arabidopsis seeds cultured on a nylon lace mesh in microgravity had coiled roots and increased root entanglement with the mesh compared to those in Earth’s gravity. This observation suggests that gravity influences root coiling. Understanding how gravity affects plant growth could help scientists develop new ways to grow plants in space and lead to development of new plant varieties on Earth.

Archaeology in orbit

More than 332,000 items have been sent to the space station during its 20-plus years of human habitation. SQuARE, an investigation sponsored by the ISS National Lab, examined what happened to these objects and their possible symbolic and social meanings for crew members. Researchers report their observations on the processes developed to return research, commercial, and personal items to Earth and the meanings and associations of the objects that return. This research provides insights into the nature of life on the station and could inform design of future space habitats by expanding our understanding of how different objects and spaces are used over time. The paper’s authors received an Award for Outstanding Work in Digital Archaeology from the Archaeological Institute of America.

Microanalysis of Martian meteorite

Mochii is a miniature scanning electron microscope (SEM) that conducts real-time imaging and measurements of specimens on the space station. Such particles can interfere with equipment or affect crew health. To test the accuracy of the technology, researchers analyzed a fragment of a Martian meteorite found in Antarctica in 1984. They compared results using a standard SEM on the ground and Mochii on the space station, noting good agreement between the results that indicates accurate functioning of the microscope in space. Mochii could support novel, real-time scientific investigations and technology testing in microgravity to benefit space travelers and humans on Earth.

Watching water use from above

ECOSTRESS measures the temperature of the surface of Earth to help answer questions about water availability, vegetation water stress, and agricultural water use. Researchers used data from the investigation to study the water use efficiency (WUE) values within and among regions with different plant functional types, such as grassland and forest. WUE provides a direct measure of the link between plant carbon uptake and water loss and shows how ecosystem function varies with climate.

Ultracold bubbles

The space station’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL) produces clouds of chilled atoms that allow scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics that are difficult to probe at higher temperatures on Earth. Researchers report creation and measurements of bubbles of these ultracold atoms. Their observations could inform future microgravity studies exploring the fundamental nature of the condensed bubble state and advancing understanding of quantum systems.

Radio program notches 7th continent

The ISS Ham Radio program reached every continent on Earth when astronaut Kjell Lindgren spoke via amateur radio with students at a school in Argentina’s Esperanza Base in Antarctica. These sessions engage students, teachers, parents, and other members of the community and help inspire interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. Esperanza Base is a permanent, year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay on the Trinity Peninsula, one of only two civilian settlements in Antarctica.

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Here's 7 things the International Space Station taught us in 2021

The International Space Station is the world's most extreme and expensive scientific laboratory. In its more than 20 years of operations it has housed thousands of experiments, providing fascinating insights into the effects of microgravity on the human body, cultured cells or various materials and chemical processes. Here are the most interesting findings that the space station delivered in 2021.

Related: How to see and track the International Space Station (ISS)

1. Spaceflight improves the ability of stem cells to regenerate 

Stem cells are sometimes seen as the holy grail of future medicine. Capable of almost endlessly regenerating and turning themselves into all sorts of cells, stem cells are abundant in young bodies but lose their vigor as we age. There are various types of stem cells. Those found in embryos, also called the pluripotent stem cells, can give rise to all kinds of cells in the human body. But stem cells exist in adult bodies too, ensuring the ability of various organs to repair themselves.

A recent experiment flown on the International Space Station found that in the weightless environment, stem cells from the human heart improved their ability to regenerate, survive and proliferate.

The effects were observed in both adult and neonatal stem cells. The discovery, part of NASA's Cardiac Stem Cells research project, is good news for the future of regenerative medicine as it shows that it is possible to kick adult heart stem cells into better action. That is to increase their 'stemness', their ability to regenerate, proliferate and create new types of cells that a damaged organ might need. Regenerative medicine hopes to one day be able to engineer tissue to repair and replace failing organs and cells. The study was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 

Related: What does space do to the human body? 29 studies investigate the effects of exploration

2. More intense space workouts improve bone quality 

Microgravity is bad news for bones. The lack of mechanical loading tells the body to stop maintaining these important support structures since they don't seem to be needed. When astronauts return to Earth, they suffer from serious bone loss . 

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The good news is, that just like on Earth , exercising in space seems to keep the body fit, including the bones. A new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine revealed that crew members who increased their resistance training during their space missions were more likely to preserve their bone strength. 

The study, part of NASA's Biochem Profile and the Canadian Space Agency's TBone investigations, also found that bone loss in some astronauts could be predicted by the elevation of certain biomarkers before their flight. These biomarkers, found in the astronauts' blood and urine, together with the astronauts' exercise history could help space surgeons identify astronauts at greater risk for bone loss.

3. Microbes can biomine in space 

Microbes can efficiently extract valuable metals from lunar and martian rocks in space, a recent experiment by the European Space Agency (ESA) revealed. The experiment, called Biorock, used microorganisms to extract the metal element vanadium from basalt, which can be commonly found on the moon and Mars . 

The microbes extracted 283% more vanadium while on the space station than on Earth. Biomining is a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to chemical extraction of important materials from ores, a process that usually relies on harsh chemicals and requires a lot of energy. Using biomining in space will surely come handy to future Mars and moon colonists as they will be able to get raw materials for making tools, spacecraft parts and other equipment. 

4. Shedding light on mysterious weather phenomena 

A European instrument called the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) has provided new insights into the genesis of some little understood phenomena in Earth's atmosphere . Used to study severe thunderstorms and their atmospheric effects, ASIM previously helped shed light on the generation of high-energy terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), the most energetic natural phenomena on Earth that accompany lightings during thunderstorms. 

But more recently, the instrument studied the so-called blue jets , which are essentially upward shooting bursts of lighting generated by disturbances of positively and negatively charged regions in the tops of the clouds. Blue jets, which get their characteristic blue color from nitrogen ions, can shoot up to altitudes of 30 miles (50 kilometers) in less than a second. 

Scientists found that the blue jets are generated by "blue bangs," short discharges in the upper layers of storm clouds. The mechanism behind these blue jets appears to be somewhat different from that behind normal lightning that we can observe on the ground. 

5. You can make cement in space 

Astronauts on the International Space Station experimented with making cement in space and found that although it creates somewhat different microstructures than on Earth, it works. The experiment, called Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification (MICS), involved mixing cement powders with various additives and different amounts of water.

In the latest round of experiments , a mixture of tricalcium aluminate and gypsum showed interesting results.

In the future, these "made in space" cement blends could be used to build stations on Mars or the moon. Cement is used to make concrete, which has excellent shielding properties against cosmic radiation. It is also strong enough to protect against impacting meteorites . 

And to make things easy, future Mars and moon colonists could actually 3D-print structures from concrete made from lunar and martian soils in a 3D printer similar to the Additive Manufacturing Facility that is currently on the space station.

6. Reducing radiation exposure 

New space station research has shown that the technology used to shield astronauts from dangerous space radiation can be made even more efficient in the future using a mineral called colemanite. This boron-rich mineral is a type of borax that forms as a deposit during evaporation of alkaline water.

An experiment by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) exposed several pieces of a polymer material to space conditions outside the International Space Station. The polymer sample treated with colemanite suffered almost no radiation damage and looked nearly indistinguishable from a sample that was not exposed to space. The researchers published their results in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science in July. 

In the future, colemanite could be used to treat satellites, space station exteriors or even high altitude planes, NASA said in a statement.

7. Exercise protects against cardiovascular problems (even in space)

Astronauts and cosmonauts in space frequently suffer from changes to the structure of their veins, especially in their legs. A study by the Russian space agency Roscosmos , however, found that these changes can be somewhat prevented by exercise and can be reversed post-flight if the space travellers have enough time off between missions. 

The veins of the 11 cosmonauts that participated in this study , published in the journal Experimental and Theoretical Research, didn't show worse damage after the second flight compared to the first. The spacefarers had breaks of about 4 years between their missions.

Follow Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook . 

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Tereza is a London-based science and technology journalist, aspiring fiction writer and amateur gymnast. Originally from Prague, the Czech Republic, she spent the first seven years of her career working as a reporter, script-writer and presenter for various TV programmes of the Czech Public Service Television. She later took a career break to pursue further education and added a Master's in Science from the International Space University, France, to her Bachelor's in Journalism and Master's in Cultural Anthropology from Prague's Charles University. She worked as a reporter at the Engineering and Technology magazine, freelanced for a range of publications including Live Science, Space.com, Professional Engineering, Via Satellite and Space News and served as a maternity cover science editor at the European Space Agency.

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Space Station

Human Research Exploring How Astronauts Adapt to Long-Term Spaceflight

A host of human research activities dominated Thursday’s research schedule aboard the International Space Station . The Expedition 66 crew members explored how living in microgravity affects sense of orientation, visual function, and the spine.

At the beginning of the day, NASA Flight Engineers Raja Chari and Kayla Barron gathered again in the Columbus laboratory module for the GRIP study . The duo took turns strapping themselves in a specialized seat for the second time this week gripping a control device in response to dynamic events to explore how microgravity affects an astronaut’s sense of motion and orientation. They will have one more session on Friday for the experiment that may inform the design of future spacecraft interfaces.

Chari later spent the afternoon on a series of spinal exams with Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency). The astronauts swapped roles as crew medical officer marking their lower, or lumbar spinal section. Then with remote guidance from doctors on the ground, the duo took turns scanning each other’s lumbar spinal section with the Ultrasound 2 device for insights into how the skeletal system adapts to weightlessness.

Matthias first started the day with NASA Flight Engineer Thomas Marshburn conducting biology research inside the Kibo laboratory module . The duo performed operations using the Life Science Glovebox investigating how spaceflight affects visual function by examining changes in the vascular system of the retina and tissue remodeling.

Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei , who is on his way to breaking the NASA astronaut single spaceflight record, spent Thursday configuring hardware to support a pair of fire safety experiments. He was inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module setting up the Combustion Integrated Rack to support upcoming operations for the SoFIE, or Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction , studies.

Working in the orbiting lab’s Russian segment, Commander Anton Shkaplerov studied advanced ways to detect Earth landmarks for photography sessions. Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov worked throughout the day installing components and setting up crew cabins inside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module .

Learn more about station activities by following the  space station blog ,  @space_station  and  @ISS_Research  on Twitter, as well as the  ISS Facebook  and  ISS Instagram  accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Chris Young

The ISS captured from a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

NASA / SpaceX  

• The ISS has been a beacon of global collaboration since its first components were launched in 1998.
• The microgravity conditions aboard the orbital laboratory allow scientists to perform cutting-edge science that isn’t possible on Earth.
• Here are 13 examples of breakthroughs and experiments that may not have been possible if not for the ISS.

The International Space Station (ISS) has served as a vital platform for global scientific collaboration since it first became fully operational in 2009, just over ten years after the first module was lifted to low Earth orbit.

Just last week, NASA officials marked the 25th anniversary of the launch of the first two elements of the ISS – Unity and Zarya.

Its time is coming to an end, though, as NASA recently announced the orbital station will be deorbited in the early 2030s. The post-ISS landscape will be a more fractured one, with the U.S. turning to its private sector and Russia building its own Mir station.

Though the ISS’s mission isn’t quite finished yet, to celebrate its 25th anniversary , here are 15 scientific breakthroughs and experiments that were possible thanks to the global collaborative effort that launched the ISS to space in the first place.

1. Producing the fifth state of matter

NASA / JPL-Caltech  

Astronauts have experimented with Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), also known as the “fifth state of matter,” aboard the International Space Station.

But why develop an exotic matter in space, and how can it help humans on Earth? BECs are helping scientists to shed light on the world of quantum physics because they collectively exhibit properties typically only displayed by individual atoms.

This makes them an important tool in studying quantum mechanics, which could lead to impressive breakthroughs in quantum computing.

BECs were first made on Earth, but they are very difficult to study because they are incredibly fragile and must be kept at extremely cold temperatures. In 2018, NASA’s Cold Atom Lab aboard the ISS became the first facility to produce BECs in space.

2. The strange behavior of space fire

Fire behaves very differently in space. When astronauts aboard the ISS burned fuel droplets as part of the Flame Extinguishing Experiment (FLEX) study, they discovered a phenomenon called steadily burning cool flames. One of the fuel droplets appeared to extinguish, but it actually continued burning with an invisible flame.

On Earth, so-called cool flames flicker out in seconds. In space, on the other hand, they can burn for minutes at a time, allowing scientists to understand their properties better.

As these types of flames produce carbon monoxide and formaldehyde instead of soot and carbon dioxide, it is believed the study of cool flames may one day help scientists develop less-polluting vehicles.

3. A new type of water purification system

In the 1970s, scientists developed a new type of water disinfection unit for the Space Shuttle program called the Microbial Check Valve. The system passed water through a bed of iodinated resin to filter out impurities. Two decades later, NASA adapted that system and made it self-regenerative for use on the ISS.

As is the case with many other space technologies, NASA realized that it could also be used to benefit humanity on Earth. Now, according to NASA , a version of that system is used in water purification units deployed across India, Mexico, Pakistan, and other countries, including hundreds of remote village locations.

4. Space’s effect on stem cells

A recent experiment aboard the ISS showed that stem cells from the human heart can better regenerate, survive, and proliferate in the weightlessness of space. The experiment results were published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences .  

The experiment carried out as part of NASA’s Cardiac Stem Cells research project shows that it might one day be possible to create regenerative medicine that could repair and even replace failing organs and cells in the human body.

5. Protein crystal growth in space

The conditions in space allow scientists to crystallize proteins that are present in the human body to understand them better and develop treatments for diseases such as cancer .

On Earth, gravity adversely affects protein crystals, meaning they often end up with misaligned molecules during experiments.

Aboard the ISS, astronauts can gradually grow stronger and higher quality versions of these protein crystals. The higher quality allows scientists to identify the structures of proteins that cause diseases, helping them develop new medications and treatments.

6. Microbes can biomine in space

A recent experiment aboard the ISS showed that microbes can be used to extract metals from lunar and martian regolith – rocks and dust. The investigation, dubbed Biorock, used microorganisms to remove the metal known as vanadium from basalt, which is abundant on the Moon and Mars.

These microbes were almost 300 percent more effective at biomining vanadium when in space instead of on Earth, demonstrating that the process could help future space explorers extract materials required for building tools, spacecraft parts, and habitats.

7. Tissue chips in space

A tissue chip, also known as an organ-on-a-chip (OOC), is a small device that contains human cells in a 3D matrix and simulates a real human organ’s activities and physiological responses.

In a similar fashion to biomining, tissue chips are more effective in space. The Tissue Chips in Space initiative uses these devices aboard the ISS to help the scientific community better understand medical issues associated with aging, including bone and muscle loss.

The effects of microgravity causes some of these changes to occur at a faster pace, meaning that OOCs in space could provide results at a much quicker pace than on Earth.

8. 3D printing in space

The first 3D printer was launched to the ISS in 2014. It will likely go down as a pivotal moment in the history of space exploration, as future crewed missions will require 3D printing to build the materials required for survival.

The first 3D printer to go to space was developed by Made in Space. It produced several parts aboard the ISS that were sent back down to Earth for analysis. Studies on the parts developed in space showed that microgravity did not have an adverse effect on the 3D printing process.

9. Organ growth in microgravity

Another 3D printing initiative aboard the ISS, the BioFabrication Facility (BFF), sent a printer to low Earth orbit to grow human tissue in space.

The initiative is part of a wider global effort to eventually manufacture functioning human organs in space using biological 3D printing processes. On Earth, this process is extremely difficult as gravity causes the organs to cave in during the manufacturing process.

If these efforts are successful, human organs could be grown in space and sent down to Earth for transplants.

10. Mr. Smith, the free-floating spacesuit

It might look like something out of the 2013 film ‘Gravity,’ but rest assured, no human was actually jettisoned out into space for the filming of the footage above.

In 2006, the crew of the ISS launched an empty Russian Orlan spacesuit, nicknamed Ivan Ivanovic or Mr. Smith, out into low Earth orbit as part of an experiment. The idea was to see if old spacesuits could be repurposed as satellites.

Mr. Smith, or SuitSat-1, was deployed from the ISS in February 2006, and it spent several months in orbit before reentering the atmosphere and burning up in September of the same year.

11. A green effervescent blob experiment

In 2015, astronaut Scott Kelly squirted a globule of water out of a nozzle as part of a fascinating science demonstration. Kelly filled the water blob with food coloring and then inserted effervescent tablets inside them, creating a frothing self-contained blob floating in space.

The NASA astronaut also filmed the experiment with the ISS’s 4K camera, meaning anyone can see the weird visual demonstration – which is, of course, only possible in a microgravity setting – in all its glory.

12. Bone glue

Startup RevBio is testing a patented bone adhesive called Tetranite aboard the ISS. In a press statement last year, the company explained that its bone adhesive could help the more than 200 million people worldwide affected by osteoporosis. This crippling bone disease vastly reduces the quality of life of patients.

As microgravity has also been shown to cause bone loss, RevBio says the ISS is an “ideal environment to study osteoporosis and test therapeutics.” The hope is that experiments aboard the ISS will help patients on Earth while also providing valuable medical knowledge for future long-term space missions.

13. Space robotics

The ISS relies heavily on robotic technology to help with docking and maintenance. As such, it has been a great catalyst for advancements in robotics and automation.

With funding from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Canadian firm MDA developed the Canadarm2 and Dextre, both of which are now attached to the ISS. Since its installation in 2008, Canadarm2 has moved equipment, cargo, and even astronauts, while Dextre has installed small equipment, such as cameras, on the exterior of the iconic orbital laboratory.

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ABOUT THE EDITOR

Chris Young Chris Young is a journalist, copywriter, blogger and tech geek at heart who’s reported on the likes of the Mobile World Congress, written for Lifehack, The Culture Trip, Flydoscope and some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including NEC and Thales, about robots, satellites and other world-changing innovations. 

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