Space Station Science Highlights: Week of August 27, 2018

ISS – Expedition 56 Mission patch.

Aug. 31, 2018

This week, NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold became the first person to sequence RNA in space, another molecular milestone aboard the orbiting laboratory. Arnold’s work was part of a robust week of science, leading into a new, busy month for the Expedition 56 crew aboard the International Space Station. Japan is preparing to launch its seventh resupply mission, Kounotori HTV-7 on September 10, and three astronauts are gearing up for two spacewalks next month.

Image above: NASA astronaut Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor works with the Bone Densitometer. Densitometry measures the mass per unit volume (density) of minerals in bone. Quantitative measures of bone loss in mice during space flight are necessary for the development of countermeasures for human crew members, as well as for bone-loss syndromes on Earth. Image Credit: NASA.

This week, crew members conducted hours of science and conducted repair work after a small leak was detected in the orbital compartment, or upper section, of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft attached to the Rassvet module of the Russian segment of the station. The station’s cabin pressure is holding steady following the repair.

Read more details about the scientific work conducted aboard your orbiting laboratory:

RNA sequenced in space for the first time

Much of present-day science focuses on exploring the molecular world. A primary tool is DNA sequencing, performed for the first time on the orbiting lab in August 2016.

Image above: NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold conducts the WetLab-2 Parra investigation. WetLab-2 Parra tests a passive method to remove air bubbles from a liquid sample. Image Credit: NASA.

Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST) seeks to advance use of sequencing in space in three ways: identifying microbes aboard the space station that current methods cannot detect, assessing microbial mutations in the genome because of spaceflight and performing direct RNA sequencing.

Animation above: NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold loads RNA into the minION device as a part of the BEST investigation. BEST seeks to advance DNA and RNA sequencing in space. Animation Credit: NASA.

This week, Arnold became the first person to sequence RNA in space. Within the first few minutes, more than 15,000 RNA molecules had been sequenced, matching and surpassing many ground sequencing runs. The run continued for 48 hours.

Learn more about the BEST investigation here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/BEST_DNA_RNA

Station catches glimpses of the moon

Communication is a vital piece of long-duration, deep-space exploration. If a spacecraft loses communication with the ground or with NASA’s Deep Space Network, its crew must navigate just as ancient mariners did, using the moon and stars. The Moon Imagery investigation collects pictures of the moon from the station, and then uses them to calibrate navigation software to guide the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, in case its transponder-based navigation capability is lost. Crewmembers photograph the moon’s phases during one 29-day cycle, providing images of varying brightness to calibrate Orion’s camera software.

This week, crew members took photographs of the full moon during a day pass and downlinked them for analysis on the ground.

Get a grip: Investigation studies motor control in microgravity environment

Microgravity provides a unique environment to study dexterous manipulation. The European Space Agency’s GRIP investigation studies long-duration spaceflight effects on the abilities of human subjects to regulate grip force and upper limb trajectories when manipulating objects using different kinds of movements (i.e.oscillatory movements, rapid discrete movements and tapping gestures).

Animation above: This week, the DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) was checked out to be powered up. DESIS verifies and enhances the use of space-based hyperspectral imaging capabilities for Earth remote sensing, and provides an instrument which produces high value hyperspectral imagery for Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE) commercial purposes. Animation Credit: NASA.

Data collected from this investigation may provide insight into potential hazards for astronauts as they manipulate objects in different gravitational environments. It could alsosupport design and control of haptic interfaces to be used in challenging environments and provide information about motor control that potentially will be useful for the evaluation and rehabilitation of patients with neurological diseases.

Space to Ground: Potential Game Changer: 08/31/2018

This week, the crew completed the first of three GRIP operations in the seated position.

Other work was done on these investigations: BPC-1, SpaceTex-2, Metabolic Space, Lighting Effects, Cerebral Autoregulation, BCAT-CS, CASIS PCG-13, CEO, ISS HAM, Rodent Research-7, SCAN Testbed, SPHERES SmoothNav, ACME CLD Flame, DESIS, MSRR, Tropical Cyclone, Cold Atom Lab, HDEV, Bone Densitometer, WetLab-2 Parra, and Food Acceptability.

Related links:

Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7687

NASA’s Deep Space Network: https://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/

Moon Imagery: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1794

GRIP: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1188

BPC-1: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7729

SpaceTex-2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7571

Metabolic Space: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7574

Lighting Effects: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2013

Cerebral Autoregulation: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1938

BCAT-CS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7668

CASIS PCG-13: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7690

CEO: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=84

ISS HAM: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=337

Rodent Research-7: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7425

SCAN Testbed: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=156

SPHERES SmoothNav: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7532

ACME CLD Flame: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7564

DESIS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1778

Tropical Cyclone: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1712

Cold Atom Lab: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7396

HDEV: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=892

Bone Densitometer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1059

WetLab-2 Parra: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7688

Food Acceptability: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562

Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/Yuri Guinart-Ramirez, Lead Increment Scientist Expeditions 55 & 56.

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