Monthly Archives: March 2021

Astronauts never travel to space alone. Each person voyaging off-world is accompanied by up to 100 trillion bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms, any number of which could jeopardize human health. Yet we are still mostly in the dark about how these communities of microscopic hitchhikers react to microgravity. We do not even know the full spectrum of spacefaring species living onboard the International Space Station (ISS). New studies, however, are designed to change that. Last month astronauts collected samples from across the interior of the ISS to build an unprecedented three-dimensional map of its microbiome. This effort at a space-based microbial census is the first step toward understanding, preventing and mitigating dangerous outbreakswhether they arise onboard the station, during long-duration flights toward Mars or even back home in hospitals.

We are constantly overrun by microbes. From the bacteria lining our guts to the too-small-to-see mites living at the base of our eyelashes, it is estimated that there are at least as many microbes on and within us as there are human cells. You can think of people as walking ecosystems, says Pieter Dorrestein, a chemical biologist at University of California, San Diego. Most of these minuscule creatures are actually essential and have such far-reaching impacts on our healthaffecting our immunity, our heart and perhaps even our mental healththat scientists often refer to the microbiome as an invisible organ. In fact, the microbial multitudes within us are so numerous that their total mass can add up to roughly the weight of our brain.

It might not come as a surprise, then, that understanding how the microbiome behaves during spaceflight is crucial if we want to send astronauts on long-term missions to Mars and beyond. But scientists are not only worried about the human microbiomethey are also worried about the spacecrafts microbiome. Take the Russian space station Mir as an example. In 1998about three years before the station deorbited into the Pacific Oceanscientists discovered several dozen species of bacteria, fungi and dust mites hiding behind a service panel. I never pictured an inanimate objecta machine that works beautifully like the stationas having a microbiome similar to someone whos alive, like a human, says Serena M. Aun-Chancellor, who is both a physician and a NASA astronaut. Yet, counter to the notion of space as a sterile, inert environment, any spacecraft will inevitably host an assortment of microbes in numbers sufficient to make any astronauts skin crawl.

A spacecrafts microbiome could prove hazardous to the health of the astronauts. Can you imagine youre on a long flight and all of the sudden you start to get, lets say, a flesh-eating bacterium, and you cant get rid of it? Dorrestein says. Those are the kinds of consequences that could materialize.

It is not a crazy idea. In 2006 a team of scientists sent a culture of salmonella bacteria for an 11-day ride on the space shuttle Atlantis only to find that once the microbes returned to Earth, they more easily killed mice. Bacteria that have slipped Earths surly bonds can also become more resistant to antibioticsa recipe for disaster, given the fact that long-duration spaceflight tends to weaken astronauts immune systems.

The new project launched by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and U.C. San Diego could help mitigate the microbial threat. In February astronaut Kate Rubins swabbed 1,000 different locations throughout the ISS. That is about 100 times greater than the number of swabs in typical microbial tracking studies, which usually focus on the most suspect parts of a living space such as kitchens, bathrooms and exercise areas. The samples will be placed in cold storage and, in a few months, sent back to Earth, where scientists will analyze their genetic signatures and name the various microbes to build a three-dimensional map of the ISSs full microbiome.

Moreover, each swab will capture trace molecules from food, oils, skin, and more. That prospect particularly excites Dorrestein, who is working on the project. Scientists currently know very little about what kinds of molecules are present on the ISS that nourish the growth of different microbial communities there. The new map will help them link specific molecules or nutrients to specific microbes. With that connection, scientists can craft guidelines to promote the growth of beneficial microbes and reduce the dangerous onesthrough nutrients alone. That might be as simple as utilizing specific construction materials on a spacecraft to Mars. All of this suggests the problem of a sick spacecraft could be partially solved before it even reaches the launchpad.

But Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a microbiologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and principal investigator of the project, is most excited about the protective measures that could take place in transit. Although the current samples are being sent back to Earth, he notes that astronauts will need to cut out that middleman on future missions. When we go all the way to other planets, you dont have a FedEx to send the samples back, Venkateswaran says. Although scientists do have the capability to perform genomic analysis onboard the ISS, the process is not particularly speedy, and in the event of a dangerous outbreak, every moment may count (just think about how long it often takes to get results back from a PCR test for COVID-19). You want to make sure you can stay on top of thatas were all too aware these days of how some little bug can kind of mess up your world, says David Klaus, a space microbiologist at the University of Colorado Boulder.

To combat that issue, the swabs Rubin used in the station-sweeping assay are double-headed. One tip collects microbes for simple detection whereas the other intends to capture their metabolitesthe microorganisms natural chemical by-products. Once Venkateswaran and his colleagues have created a database linking specific microbes with certain metabolites, they can build small biosensors that look for just the metabolites. Picture a handheld device that could diagnose the presence of bacteria or fungi on the spacecraft and alert astronauts of an outbreak immediatelysimilar to a carbon monoxide detector.

A notification from such a system (which Venkateswaran suspects will take another five to 10 years to become a reality) would spark immediate actionas astronauts would intensify their cleaning protocols to prevent the an onboard outbreak. This will make for a better maintenance of tomorrows habitat, Venkateswaran says. Astronauts onboard the ISS already work hard to keep the microbiome population under control. Every week they vacuum the vents and wipe down surfaces with disinfecting wipes. Aun-Chancellor estimates that when she was in orbit, each of the crews six astronauts spent roughly three hours a week cleaning. That is 18 hours each week for the ISSs total habitable volume of just 388 cubic meters (around half of the passenger space in a Boeing 747), which may seem excessive. But given the ISSs unique circumstances, all that sanitizing is necessary. Up there, food just doesnt fall to the floor, she says. Food goes to the ceiling. Food sticks to the walls. Food is everywhere. So its 3-D cleaning.

This kind of conscientious cleaning leads some scientists to dismiss worries about an outbreak en route to Mars. I dont think that the influence of bacteria is really a big showstopper for long term spaceflight because evidence suggests otherwise, Klaus says. Weve had people living on the [ISS] with rotating crews continuously for over 20 years now. And there hasnt been any kind of outbreak there. Aun-Chancellor notes that simply finding dangerous bacteria is not cause for alarmit is only worrying if the microbes are making astronauts sick. I see it more as an identification and a heads up, she says. And then were just kind of watching and mapping and waiting to see what those bacteria do in that stressful environment, she adds.

But Venkateswaran is worried not only about risks to the astronautsbut also the chances of microbial contamination of any otherworldly destinations they visit. Astronauts are basically a pathogen to the planet, Aun-Chancellor says. Theyre a new microbiome thats suddenly stepping foot on Mars. Even the spacesuit that they step out in will have their own missions microbiome on the material surface of that suit. If scientists could map the microbiome on that suit better, they might be able to clean it better, too. Venkateswaran is hopeful that the research will even help scientists design superior suits with joints that prevent even the smallest microbes from leaking through.

The unique applications do not end there. For Liz Warren, senior program director at the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, the most tantalizing aspect about all this research has little to do with space. Any partially closed environmenta house, an airplane, a hospitalwill have its own microbiome. So learning how to prevent certain microbes from thriving in space (or how to halt them when they do) offers helpful lessons for similar environments on Earth. For example, consider another project running on the ISS that tests the efficacy of antimicrobial coatings manufactured by Boeing. The idea is that if the coatings work in spacewhere microbes can be far more dangerousthen they will work on Earth. In short, the ISS is an incredible laboratory in its own right. You cant do that on Earthyou cant take gravity out of the picture, Klaus says. Having microgravity is kind of like having a microscope for the first time in a different way. You see behaviors that you couldnt otherwise see.

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NASA Will Map Every Living Thing on the International Space Station - Scientific American

China and Russia have agreed to build a new lunar space station together, according to a statement by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

CNSA and Russian federal space agency (Roscosmos) leaders signed a "memorandum of understanding" on Tuesday to move forward with plans to construct a lunar research station, according to Jessie Yeung with CNN.

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"China and Russia will use their accumulated experience in space science, research and development as well as the use of space equipment and space technology to jointly develop a road map for the construction of an international lunar scientific research station (ILRS)," CNSA said.

A statement from Roscosmos said the two space agencies plan to "promote cooperation on the creation of an open-access ILRS for all interested countries and international partners, with the goal of strengthening research cooperation and promoting the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes in the interests of all mankind," Yeung wrote.

Neither statements from the CNSA or the Roscosmos provide a target date for the ILRS.

NASA isn't far behind with its plans to send astronauts to the moon and "establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade," according to the space agency'sArtemis program.

Back in October, NASA signed the Artemis Accords to work with eight other nations and several partners in the private sector on future moon explorations, according to Mike Wall with Space.com.

A company called the Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) has set its sights on constructing the first commercial space station by 2025.

Russia and China, however, are not part of the Artemis agreement to work with the United States on their race to the moon, according to Wall.

While Russia has collaborated with the U.S. through the International Space Station, China is prohibited from collaborating on space projects unless Congress approves the partnership in advance, Wall said.

China also plans to send astronauts to the moon by the 2030s, and if they succeed, they will be only the second country after the U.S. to accomplish such a mission, Yeung wrote.

Originally posted here:
China and Russia agree to build lunar space station together - Chron

In a new study published in the journal npj Microgravity, scientists and astronauts conducted experiments with human cells and pathogens to see how the two would change and interface differently in a low-gravity environment. The researchers used the microbial species salmonella typhimurium to infect human cells in controlled experiments on Earth and on the International Space Station.

The researchers found that there were changes in RNA and protein expression in the human cells in a microgravity environment. They also found that salmonella was able to cause the human cells to upregulate increase the rate or level of expression of compounds that would help fight an infection in both cells that were inflight and on the ground.

Inflight cells upregulated genes that were associated with inflammation, one of the human bodys mechanisms for fighting pathogens. Other genes that are related to virulence or stress regulators were also upregulated in the cells in space compared to the cells on the ground.

"We appreciate the opportunity that NASA provided our team to study the entire infection process in spaceflight, which is providing new insight into the mechanobiology of infectious disease that can be used to protect astronaut health and mitigate infectious disease risks,"said one of the studys authors Cheryl Nickerson, who is based at the Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Arizona State University, in a press release. "This becomes increasingly important as we transition to longer human exploration missions that are further away from our planet."

There were limitations to the study; not all samples that came back from space were able to be analyzed as fully as the scientists were hoping to. There were also small differences in the amount of pathogen administered to cells on the ground compared to inflight.

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Still, this studys findings are a good start to understanding how infections in space might affect our bodies. Scientists will need to know a lot more about the bodys response to a variety of pathogens, not just salmonella. This is all so that in the future humans may be able to spend more time in space and on longer flight missions.

"We knew that spaceflight also impacted several important structural and functional features of human cells that Salmonella normally exploits during infections on earth," the studys lead author Jennifer Barrila, who is also based at the Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics, Arizona State University,said in the press release. "Our study indicates that there are some pretty big changes in the molecular landscape of the intestinal epithelium in response to spaceflight, and this global landscape appears to be further altered during infection with Salmonella."

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New study from space station looks at human cells infected with salmonella | TheHill - The Hill

China is now one step closer to achieving its goals of bringing its people to the moon.

The country's national space administration announced this week that it had signed an agreement with Russia to build a lunar space station together. This station, they say, will be "open to all countries."

The International Scientific Lunar Station will also "carry out a wide range of scientific research including exploration and utilization of the moon," a statement from both agencies said.

This memorandum of understanding was signed by Dmitry Rogozin, general director of the Roscosmos State Corporation, and Zhang Kejian, head of China's National Space Administration.

"China and Russia will use their accumulated experience in space science, research and development as well as the use of space equipment and space technology to jointly develop a road map for the construction of an international lunar scientific research station (ILRS)," the statement continued.

Al Jazeera previously reported that China had poured billions into its "space dream" in the hopes of one day building a crewed space station and sending humans to the moon.

This investment has clearly paid off. The Chang'e-5 space probe last December brought back samples that it had picked up during its moon landing. The success of the Chang'e-5 was noted at the time to be a landmark demonstration of China's rapidly accelerating space capabilities.

According to a CNN report, the Chinese have now put in motion plans to send astronauts to the moon by the 2030s, which would make it the second country to send a man to the moon.

A statement from Roscosmos also noted that the organizations would "promote cooperation on the creation of an open-access ILRS for all interested countries and international partners, with the goal of strengthening research cooperation and promoting the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes in the interests of all mankind."

This announcement to cooperate with the Chinese comes four months after Russia reportedly snubbed NASA's invitation to join the Artemis Accords, a plan that was meant to facilitate the US's preparations to build a permanent base on the moon and, eventually, send astronauts to Mars. At the time, NASA had announced its resolve to return to the moon in 2024, complete with plans to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by that deadline.

In October last year, however, Russia opted not to sign on to the Accords despite being courted by NASA, and despite seven other countries (including Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom) getting on board with the agreement.

The Artemis Accords, named after NASA's moon-and-Mars-bound human-spaceflight program, also outlined guidelines for space exploration for nations to follow if they joined the effort: such as being peaceful, cooperating, and mining resources sustainably from space.

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China and Russia are building a lunar space station together - Insider

A flowering perennial ryegrass spike

Perennial ryegrass is fed to livestock in the United States and many other countries. The Artec Space Spider is a handheld 3D scanner created for use on the International Space Station. Travis Tubbs is a major with U.S. Space Force using the scanner to measure ryegrass varieties on Earth and help identify specific plants with the most desirable traits for breeders and farmers.

The problem here is with seeds that fall off too early. In the state of Oregon alone, where Tubbs has conducted published research, 360 million pounds of ryegrass seed was harvested in 2019, valued at more than $186 million. But 20% of the ryegrass grown there very year is lost due to something called early seed shattering, when seeds break off from the plant prematurely.

Artec Studio x-ray representation of a scan of a perennial ryegrass spike

Tubbs says creating 3D scans of individual plants, a simple process that takes about a minute, can help scientists pinpoint plants with the most desirable traits and outcomes in the field and use them to breed superior ryegrass and other kinds of plants, from rice and barley and wheat to fruits and vegetables.

These superior plants will be highly insect-resistant and drought tolerant, and require little to no pesticides, he says.

Technology is going to march forward and this is a great tool that can be used to help all farmers in analyzing whats out in their field.

Space Force and the Spider

The Space Force, the newest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, was established in December 2019, before Tubbs started the project.

Hes a professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado who teaches in the Biology Department and conducted his research at Oregon State University. Space Force is part of the Air Force.

Travis Tubbs

Tubbs came across the Artec Space Spider while looking for ways to study ryegrass and early seed shattering. I was literally going to build my own camera system to make this work, he says.

His research involved using the Space Spider to precisely capture ryegrass spikes and literally count the number of seeds that particular plants were losing every week. Coming back to specific plants was as simple as marking them with pieces of tape, then using intuitive software to analyze the scans, Tubbs says.

The advantage to 3D scans is that you can observe the unique characteristics of a plant, twisting a stalk around, for instance, to see how many seeds a spike of ryegrass has retained.

One big takeaway of the research: The height of the plant has something to do with how well it can retain seeds, Tubbs says. The taller the plant, the less likely it is to hold on to those seeds. So you want to breed shorter plants.

Also, plants with a wider angle of spikes, or spikes that dont grow too closely together, are more desirable.

Throughout two years of the project, Tubbs had 640 ryegrass plants under his care, originating from seeds collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 40 different locations around the world. A total of 160 individual plants in the field were measured six to eight times over the duration of the work. The Artec Space Spider costs about $20,000.

The Moon and Mars

At first blush, you might think this ryegrass research by a Space Force major has something to do with growing crops for upcoming missions to the moon, or Mars.

Not yet, but this is definitely something thats useful for that, Tubbs says. You can digitize a 3D structure and send it off to whenever you need, around the world. Or above the world.

Tubbs predicts that improved plant varieties derived from 3D scanning will be sprouting from the ground in the near futuremaybe a decade or more. And farmers can be involved in using the technology.

As the world population continues to grow, weve got to get better and faster at producing food.

Excerpt from:
3D Scanning Tech Developed For Space Station Can Help Feed People On Earth - Forbes