Research Payloads to Support Long-Duration Spaceflight and Improve Osteoarthritis and Cancer Treatment Return From Space Station
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., May 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ELVIS is back. Samples from the Extant Life Volumetric Imaging System (ELVIS)—a new holographic microscope—have returned from the International Space Station (ISS). The samples splashed down off the coast of California alongside more than two dozen other investigations sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory®. Experiments returning on SpaceX's 32nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA include a project to manufacture nanomaterials in space to treat osteoarthritis and cancer on Earth and several investigations funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).
These are a few highlights of the investigations that returned to Earth for further study to benefit humanity:
Using innovative holographic technology, ELVIS delivers detailed 3D views of cellular life, allowing scientists to study the adaptability and resilience of life under extreme conditions. Findings could reveal how life might persist on distant moons and planets, potentially enhancing the search for life beyond Earth. Portland State University, in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., tested the advanced microscope system onboard the orbiting laboratory. A collection of samples examined on the space station returned for further analysis so the team can determine ELVIS' next steps in space.
Researchers from the University of Connecticut and Eascra Biotech, with support from Axiom Space, built on previous research to improve the production of innovative nanomaterials in space. Janus base nanomaterials (JBNs) are composed of synthetic molecules that self-assemble into structures resembling human DNA. The injectable nanomaterials could help regenerate cartilage in the joints of osteoarthritis patients and could be used to carry cancer drugs into hard-to-penetrate solid tumors. The team's groundbreaking research is featured in the most recent issue of Upward, official magazine of the ISS National Lab.
A project that is part of a series of investigations developed by the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Air Force Academy, in partnership with Rhodium Scientific, examined how genetically modified tomato plants grow in the space environment. The team aimed to better understand how genetic modifications and gene expression changes influence root and shoot development. The researchers will compare results from this experiment with those from investigations on the Polaris Dawn and NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 missions, which featured the same Rhodium plant growth hardware. Findings could provide insights into the production of crops on long-duration space missions or in high-radiation environments.
An experiment from Sophie's BioNutrients, supported by BioServe Space Technologies, aims to develop plant-based, protein-rich alternatives to meat and seafood using microalgae. The investigation examined how microgravity affects protein yields in microalgae that require nutrition from organic compounds to grow. Results could provide insights into the fundamental mechanisms of microalgae cell growth, metabolism, and protein production. In addition to serving as a food source on long-duration spaceflight missions, microalgae could also be used in life support systems and to provide oils for fuel production.
Four investigations funded by NSF seek to advance fundamental science with valuable applications, continuing a strong, multiyear collaboration between NSF and the ISS National Lab. One of these projects, from Lehigh University, could enable the next generation of portable microfluidic devices that use bioseparation for virus detection. This process, which separates particles from fluids, relies on thermophoresis—the tendency of particles suspended in a solution to move from hot to cold regions along a temperature gradient. Bioseparation can be used in medical lab tests to detect the presence of a virus by separating virus particles from bodily fluids in samples.
To learn more about these projects and others that launched on this resupply mission, please visit our launch page. For additional information on the ISS National Lab and its mission to enable R&D in space for the benefit of humanity, see our website.
Download a high-resolution image for this release: NASA's SpaceX CRS-32
About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory:The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory® allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space® (CASIS®) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative Agreement with NASA, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit our website.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CASIS accepts corporate and individual donations to help advance science in space for the benefit of humanity. For more information, visit our donations page.
Media Contact:
Patrick O'Neill 904-806-0035 PONeill@ISSNationalLab.org
International Space Station (ISS) National LaboratoryManaged by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space® (CASIS®)1005 Viera Blvd., Suite 101, Rockledge, FL 32955 • 321.253.5101 • www.ISSNationalLab.orgView original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/research-payloads-to-support-long-duration-spaceflight-and-improve-osteoarthritis-and-cancer-treatment-return-from-space-station-302466060.html
SOURCE International Space Station National Lab
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
WATCH LIVE: Major defense contractor launches first national security mission on a Vulcan rocket
The United Launch Alliance spacecraft will launch a pair of satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tiny 'Coral' Discovered by Rover in Martian Crater
Curiosity has just come across a new and exciting rock during its travels in the Gale Crater on Mars. Just a few centimeters across, the tiny formation is notable for its amazing resemblance to branch corals that can be found living in Earth's oceans, or a piece of fulgurite; minerals fused in the heat of a lightning strike as it slams into the ground. Mars, of course, has no surface oceans (at least, not any more), and the rock isn't fulgurite – but it is a fascinating testament to the way the same patterns repeat in different contexts throughout the Universe, from the micro-scale to the cosmic. Related: The strange formation is, actually, a product of a once-wet environment. Water seeping through cracks in the bedrock carried dissolved minerals, depositing it therein as the water drained away. The mineral concentrations eventually dried and hardened, setting in the shape of the crack it filled. Mars may no longer have surface water, but it does have two things in abundance: dust and wind. Its wild sandstorms can shroud the entire planet for months at a time, dramatically different from the weather here on Earth. They scour and sculpt the surface with powerful erosive force. Formations on Mars that contain different kinds of mineral with different compositions can respond differently to this sandblasting. In the case of this coral-like rock, the sand blasted away the matrix containing the deposit of sedimentary material, leaving behind only the material that filled the crack – an inverse to the original formation. Other, similar formations Curiosity has found include weird, spindly spires and a rock that looks a bit like a flower. Other strange formations include a bubbly rock that resembles frogspawn, a rock that looks a bit like a shrunken face, and one that looks like a bone. Makes you wish you could go rock collecting on Mars, really. Related News Mars Looks Strangely Familiar in Stunning New Panorama The Perseids Meteor Shower Peaks This Week: Here's When to Look Up Atlanta Home Struck by Meteorite Older Than Earth Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
4 hours ago
- CBS News
Carbon monitoring data from Colorado State University shaky as federal budget looks to cut NASA funding
A research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University studies carbon monitoring data from two NASA satellites to make more precise climate change predictions for decades to come. Those satellites are now at risk of losing funding in the upcoming proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year. Senior scientist Chris O'Dell calls these satellites his babies. For more than 20 years, he's developed and worked on the Orbiting Carbon Observatories. "I'm always trying to look for new ways to use the data and to make the data itself more accurate," O'Dell said. When OCO-2 was launched in 2014, its mission was to beam back data to researchers by measuring how much of the sunlight reflected off the Earth is absorbed by carbon dioxide molecules in the air. OCO-3 was launched in 2019 as an attachment to the International Space Station. O'Dell says these instruments gather data that is difficult to attain from the ground. And with carbon measurements constantly changing, these precise data are groundbreaking. A happy accident came about when scientists working on the OCOs found that with "our instruments, we can actually tell on a specific day if they're doing photosynthesis or not, and that's really important. You can use it to predict crop yields if you fly overhead enough." Although it's very new, the United States Department of Agriculture has started to integrate the data. "It's just starting to be integrated now." But the Orbiting Carbon Observatories' future is now murky. President Trump's fiscal year 2026 NASA budget request states that both will close out and end next year. "It's a little bit painful, especially because they are functioning satellites, and they're really bringing down a lot of useful data, about emissions over cities that we can see for the first time directly," O'Dell says. O'Dell says his team got a directive to plan for a mission close-out in case they lose funding. OCO-3 would likely be turned off and remain on the ISS. But the free-flying OCO-2 would likely be destroyed by the same atmosphere it's meant to monitor. "You actually have to bring it down out of the atmosphere or out of the orbit. (It) will then burn up in the atmosphere," O'Dell said, meaning his life's work could literally go up in flames. Taking away federal funding would cripple research at CIRA. Diana Furchtgott-Roth, the director of the Center on Energy, Climate and Environment at the think tank Heritage Foundation, says the private sector would take over. "We need to take a very serious look at what the government has to do and what it doesn't have to do," she says. "Technology is making constant progress, and private companies can take over. And we should let them, because our government expenditures are going up. (Funds) need to be spent in other ways." According to the Treasury Department, the U.S. has accumulated $37 trillion in debt throughout the nation's history, and the federal government has spent $1.34 trillion more than it planned for in fiscal year 2025. "It's like putting things on our credit card and expecting other people to pay for it," Furchtgott-Roth tells CBS News Colorado. She points to companies like Disney. "As technology catches up, private companies are going to be able to do jobs that the federal government didn't use to do," she says. "We need to be figuring out how we are going to get healthier balances for our children and grandchildren, so we do not tax them in the future with bills that we should have been paying ourselves." Disney partnered with Weatherbug and Weatherstem to forecast day-to-day weather at its parks. Weatherbug uses Severe Weather Alerts notifications that are issued by the National Weather Service, which uses data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Both of those agencies are also at risk of losing funding. The budget approval has a deadline of Oct. 1, or there will be a government shutdown. CBS Colorado reached out to the White House and NASA, neither of which would comment on the proposed cuts since the budget has not been finalized by Congress. However, Dan Powers, a science advocate and the executive director of the nonprofit CO-LABS, says privatization isn't practical. "Who's going to step in and do this instead, with some rationale of it being faster, cheaper, better, etc.? The government agencies that provide daily assessments, research, and information sharing--it would be like going back to before any (current) technology existed as a resource to the country," Powers says. But Furchtgott-Roth is confident that companies can take charge. "We have the most advanced universities in the world," she says. "People from all over the country want to come and do research here in the United States, and I'm not concerned about losing our competitive advantage" (to other countries). Were that the case, though, O'Dell would have to think about plan B: "I would certainly look at all my opportunities. Going overseas or working in the private sector would probably be two pretty high items on the list. I mean, I hope that doesn't happen. I have every faith that I think we're not going to lose this funding. But if the worst were to happen, yeah, I would (leave the country)." O'Dell estimates both satellites could continue functioning into the 2030s, and he says the lion's share of their costs has already been spent. "It cost about $750 million (in) taxpayer dollars to design, build, and launch the OCO instruments." It costs must less per year to run them. The budget for the two satellites was $16.4 million for fiscal year 2025. O'Dell wants to be able to continue with the work of the OCOs. "It's been the greatest pleasure of my life, actually, getting to work on these missions, getting the public's trust," he says. "It makes you feel really good, maybe how you might feel as, you know, your child was really successful in high school or college or something."
