Crew-7 Astronauts Return to Earth After Working on ISS National Lab Research

March 12, 2024 • By Amy Thompson, Staff Writer

NASA’s Crew-7 astronauts worked on numerous science experiments and technology demonstrations during their six-month mission onboard the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station). Many of these projects were sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory® and aim to benefit people back on Earth as well as enable a robust economy in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles..

The crew—NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Satoshi Furukawa, and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov—returned to Earth on Tuesday, March 12, after launching to the orbiting laboratory in August 2023.

“This has been an adventure of a lifetime,” said Mogensen during a briefing before returning to Earth. “We have achieved so many diverse and incredible things up here, from science to technology demonstrations to spacewalks. We’re all grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way.”

Here’s a look back at some of their mission milestones.

Liver Regeneration

Moghbeli worked on an investigation from the University of California, San Francisco studying how liver cells are affected by microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment.. The unique environment of the space station can induce age-like changes in our immune cells. This project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, investigated how those changes could affect the liver’s ability to regenerate or repair itself, which could boost our understanding of the aging process and its effects on disease mechanisms.

Visiting Spacecraft

The Crew-7 astronauts welcomed not one, not two, but three different spacecraft during their six-month mission. In November, a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft arrived at the orbital outpost, carrying crew supplies and a wide variety of research investigations as part of SpaceX’s 29^th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission contracted by NASA. Soon after, the space station crew expanded as a quartet of private astronauts arrived to carry out Axiom Space’s third private astronaut mission to the ISS. The crew also welcomed Northrop Grumman’s 20^th Cygnus spacecraft, marking 10 years of Cygnus science deliveries to the orbiting laboratory through NASA’s CRS missions. Tucked inside Cygnus was a variety of research investigations that the Crew-7 astronauts began to work on.

Antimicrobial Power 

Astronauts  onboard the ISS touch these patches of aircraft and spacecraft materials to see whether a clear polymer coating sprayed on half the patches breaks down microbes. The Crew-7 astronauts helped test a new antimicrobial coating during their time on station. Microorganisms responsible for the spread of disease can rapidly multiply and mutate in the space environment, potentially becoming more resistant to antibiotics. To help mitigate this, an investigation from Boeing and the University of Queensland aims to evaluate how well a special polymer coating can guard against the spread of germs. Sample materials were placed around the orbiting laboratory, and crew members touch them periodically. The samples will be returned to Earth, where the coating’s effectiveness can be assessed.

The Heart of BFF(Abbreviation: BFF) The BFF is a 3D bioprinter on the ISS capable of printing human tissue from bioinks mixed with living cells. This ISS National Lab commercial facility is owned and operated by Redwire Space.  

Mogensen worked on Redwire Corporation’s BioFabrication Facility (BFF) while on station, printing out test patches of cardiac tissues that could one day be used for drug testing as well as tissue repair. An updated version of the BFF, which uses human cells to bioprint tissues in microgravity, launched to the space station in November. The upgraded facility allows greater temperature control when printing as well as an upgraded imaging system that lets the team better control the prints.