The International Space Station (ISS) is a powerful platform in low Earth orbit (LEO) that enables research and development (R&D) not possible on Earth. With its persistent microgravity, access to the extreme space environment, and unique vantage point, this one-of-a-kind orbiting laboratory allows investigators to advance R&D in a wide variety of disciplines.

Investigators from academic institutions, non-NASA government agencies, and industry—from innovative startups to Fortune 500 companies—all find value in leveraging the ISS National Lab 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 LEO.

The goal of Upward is to share the results of ISS National Lab R&D with the broad scientific community through features that bring these success stories to life. Below, browse and download past issues of Upward to learn more!

Upward Volume 7, Issue 2 Cover

Upward Volume 7, Issue 2

In this issue’s cover story, see how studying bubbles in space could help revolutionize early cancer detection. Other features showcase how tissue chips in space could aid in the development of new treatments for age-related muscle loss and how ISS research on gene expression in cotton plants could lead to more sustainable agriculture on Earth.

Upward Volume 7 Issue 1 Cover

Upward Volume 7, Issue 1

In this issue’s cover story, see how free-flying robots on the space station are helping to advance innovative technology and inspire the next generation of explorers. Other features highlight how technology validation on station allowed a startup to make the leap to operating a constellation of commercial satellites for global monitoring services and how researchers are using tissue chips in space to better understand post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

Upward Volume 6, Issue 3 Cover

Upward Volume 6, Issue 3

In this issue’s cover story, see how studying tissue chips in space could lead to new ways to treat immune system aging in patients on Earth. Other features highlight how space-based research is helping to improve production of protein-based therapeutics and how researchers are using microgravity to uncover new insights into plant behavior both in space and on the ground.

Upward Volume 6, Issue 2 Cover

Upward Volume 6 Issue 2

In this issue’s cover story, see how studying tissue chips in space could lead to new ways to treat immune system aging in patients on Earth. Other features highlight how space-based research is helping to improve production of protein-based therapeutics and how researchers are using microgravity to uncover new insights into plant behavior both in space and on the ground.

Upward Volume 6, Issue 1 Cover

Upward Volume 6 Issue 1

In this issue’s cover story, learn how startup company Orbit Fab used the ISS National Lab to test technology for in-orbit refueling and advance plans to develop Gas Stations in Space™.  Other features highlight how Mighty Mice on the ISS could help patients with muscle and bone loss on Earth and how researchers used microgravity to improve protein crystal growth in their search for a cancer cure.

Upward Volume 5 Cover

Upward Volume 5, Compilation

This special compilation issue features a collection of Upward articles published online between 2020 and 2022 but never included in an issue. Learn how space-grown protein crystals could help treat disease on Earth, how students are advancing research in low Earth orbit, and how a supercomputer could provide valuable analysis capabilities on station. Also in this issue, discover how the space environment is the ultimate technology proving ground, from ruggedized electronics to technology for in-orbit debris capture and more.

Upward Volume 4, Issue 3 Cover

Upward Volume 4, Issue 3

In this special issue, read the perspective of Dr. Erik Svedberg, senior program officer at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, discussing the many ways in which investigators can leverage the unique conditions on the ISS National Lab for materials research not possible on Earth.

Upward Volume 4, Issue 2 Cover

Upward Volume 4, Issue 2

In this special issue, Dr. Lucie Low, scientific program manager at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, provides her perspective on the value of space-based biomedical research and the transformative impact outcomes can have on human health back on Earth.

Upward Volume 4, Issue 1 Cover

Upward Volume 4, Issue 1

Our cover story details space-based research on cardiovascular progenitor cells (early precursors to mature heart cells) and how they could help in developing new regenerative therapies for people with cardiac disease back on the ground.

Upward Volume 3, Issue 3 Cover

Upward Volume 3, Issue 3

In this issue’s cover story, find out how companies are using the microgravity environment on the ISS National Lab to produce valuable ZBLAN optical fibers for use on Earth that could provide 10 to 100 times lower signal loss than traditional silica fibers—potentially paving the way for future large-scale commercial manufacturing of ZBLAN in low Earth orbit.

Upward Volume 3, Issue 2 Cover

Upward Volume 3 Issue 2

In this issue’s cover story, follow along on the journey of a group of flatworms to and from the ISS and see what researchers discovered in addition to the two-headed worm that became an internet and media sensation.

Upward Volume 3, Issue 1 Cover

Upward Volume 3 Issue 1

In this issue, learn about the ISS as a launch platform for small satellites and how NanoRacks has helped jumpstart a CubeSat revolution, and find out how pharmaceutical company Merck is conducting protein crystallization research on the ISS aimed at improving drug delivery methods.

Upward Volume 2, Issue 3

Upward Volume 2, Issue 3

In this issue, learn how in-orbit commercial facility operators are serving as pathfinders for economic development in low Earth orbit in this issue’s cover story highlighting Space Tango—one of the many innovative and successful companies doing business onboard the ISS National Lab.

Upward Volume 2 Issue 2 Cover

Upward Volume 2, Issue 2

In this issue, see what commercial facility operators are doing with 3D printing in space and discover the power of the ISS as a resource for project-based learning.

Upward Volume 2, Issue 1 Cover

Upward Volume 2, Issue 1

In this issue, discover what researchers have found about microgravity’s effect on some of Earth’s smallest living organisms—bacteria—and the resulting changes in behavior that bacteria experience in space.

Upward Volume 1, Issue 3 Cover

Upward Volume 1, Issue 3

In this issue, find out how Procter & Gamble (P&G), an innovation giant among consumer goods companies, is utilizing the unique environment of space to improve the customer experience on Earth.

upward Volume 1 Issue 2 Cover

Upward Volume 1, Issue 2

In this issue, Kenneth Savin, advisor for clinical innovation at Eli Lilly and Company, shares his perspective on the value that designing experiments to fly on the ISS has brought to the global pharmaceutical company.

Upward Volume 1 Issue 1

Upward Volume 1, Issue 1

On behalf of CASIS and NASA, we are pleased to announce Upward – the quarterly magazine of the ISS National Lab.  This new publication will delve into the latest research experiments and findings onboard this incredible research facility.