SpaceX CRS-17 Mission Overview

Investigations Sponsored by the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory

The International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) U.S. National Laboratory is enabling a new era of research in space aimed at improving life on Earth. The SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)-17 mission is slated for launch no earlier than April 30, 2019, at 4:22 a.m. EDT carrying more than a dozen ISS National Lab-sponsored payloads.

The SpaceX CRS-17 mission includes a variety of payloads representing diverse science investigations, ranging from the life and physical sciences to Earth observation and remote sensing, as well as educational experiments intended to engage and excite the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Below are highlights of sponsored ISS National Lab investigations that are part of the SpaceX CRS-17 mission to the space station.

An ISS Experiment on Electrodeposition
University of Florida
Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Kirk Ziegler

This project seeks to test electrochemical deposition onboard the International Space Station (ISS) to determine if the absence of gravity reduces interfacial instability patterns produced during electrodeposition. Electrodeposition is a process by which an electric current is used to form thin metal features on conductive surfaces like electrodes. This investigation seeks to utilize the 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. environment on the ISS, which eliminates gravity-driven confounding factors such as convection, to control the electrodeposition processes so that controlled growth of ordered, high-aspect-ratio structures with fewer imperfections can be achieved. Results from this investigation could be applied to improve the manufacture of many systems on the ground, such as microfluidic reactors, microscale heat exchangers, sensors, and catalytic converters for use in both industrial (cell phones, computers, etc.) and medical (implantable devices) applications.

Commercial Service ProviderImplementation Partners that own and operate commercial facilities for the support of research on the ISS or are developing future facilities.: Space Tango

Cartilage-Bone-Synovium Microphysiological System (NCATS-Cartilage-Bone-Synovium)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PI: Dr. Alan Grodzinsky

Post-traumatic osteoarthritis causes about 12% of osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and ankle, and is a common condition in otherwise healthy young to middle-aged individuals, affecting about 5.6 million people in the United States. This project represents a relevant human tissue chipA tissue chip, or organ-on-a-chip or microphysiological system, is a small engineered device containing human cells and growth media to model the structure and function of human tissues and/or organs. Using tissue chips in microgravity, researchers can study the mechanisms behind disease and test new treatments for patients on Earth. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a multiyear partnership with the ISS National Laboratory® to fund tissue chip research on the space station. platform with the potential to provide several pharmacological treatment options for osteoarthritis patients. This project will study the effects of spaceflight on musculoskeletal disease biology, specifically, post-traumatic osteoarthritis and bone loss using a tissue chip cartilage-bone-synovium joint model. Researchers will co-culture primary human explants of intact (native) cartilage, bone, and synovial joint capsule tissue (obtained from a long-standing collaborating human donor bank). The effects of pharmacological agents to ameliorate bone and cartilage degeneration will be tested on Earth and onboard the ISS, using a quantitative and high-content experimental and computational approach.

Commercial Service Provider: TechShot

Cell Culture Module Fluid Behavior Demonstration
Space Tango
PI: Twyman Clements

This project seeks to test variables of fluid exchange in a common 96-well culture plate. Images from a series of fluid experiments will be used to assess capillary action of the plate in microgravity, and results will be compared to ground-based controls to identify an optimum microgravity fluid exchange procedure. The resulting data will help optimize media exchanges for future cell culture research in microgravity. Increased understanding of fluid exchange in commercially-available 96-well plates enables the development of more reliable and affordable ground control studies for microgravity cell culture experiments.

Commercial Service Provider: Space Tango

Crystal Growth STEM 2018 (CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes). PCG 14)
University of Wisconsin – Madison
PI: Ilia Guzei

Through this educational project, students learn about crystallization techniques and the advantages of using microgravity for crystal growth studies. Students work to translate Earth-based experimental procedures into flight-capable projects, compare data from crystals grown on the ISS to data from those grown on the ground, and communicate results. This project provides an opportunity for the winning team of students from the 2018 Wisconsin Crystal Growing Competition to grow crystals onboard the ISS National Lab to test their optimized conditions for Earth-based crystallization against microgravity-based crystallization. Students will work with the Wisconsin Molecular Structure Laboratory and the ISS National Lab Space Station Explorers team to translate their optimal growth conditions into an experiment to be conducted on the space station.

Commercial Service Provider: Bionetics Corporation

Effects of Microgravity on Human Physiology: Blood-Brain Barrier Chip (NCATS-Brain Chip)
Emulate
PI: Dr. Chris Hinojosa

This project seeks to understand how the unique environment of the ISS National Lab affects blood-brain barrier (BBB) physiology. The research team will validate and develop Emulate’s proprietary tissue chip technology platform for experimentation with human cells. The BBB is a semi-permeable barrier that allows the selective passage of certain molecules and gases while preventing the passage of others. It is a critical component involved in maintaining homeostasis, and disruption of the barrier can lead to or cause neurological dysfunction or disease. This technology will become available to the broader scientific community for studies on human physiology and disease in space.

Commercial Service Provider: Space Tango

Genes in Space-6
Woodbury High School, MN and Mounds View High School, MN (through funding from Boeing)
Co-PI’s: David Li, Rebecca Li, Michelle Sung, Aarthi Vijayakumar

The sixth student investigation awarded through the Genes in SpaceAn annual national research competition for students in grades 7 through 12 to design pioneering biotechnology experiments that are conducted by astronauts on the space station. The program is funded by Boeing and miniPCR bio and supported by the ISS National Laboratory® and New England BioLabs. student research competition seeks to improve understanding of microgravity’s effects on the mechanisms of DNA repair. The team’s experiment will use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing together with DNA amplification using a miniPCR (polymerase chain reaction) machine to make copies of the DNA onboard the ISS. The experiment will then use sequencing technology to read the DNA while in orbit. By increasing our understanding of the effects of microgravity on the mechanisms of DNA repair, the team’s project aims to protect astronauts from cosmic radiation. This is the winning student experiment from the Genes in Space contest, in which students in grades 7 through 12 compete to send their DNA experiments to the space station. This will be the first student experiment coupling DNA amplification by PCR with DNA sequencing onboard the ISS.

Commercial Service Provider: miniPCR

Lung Host Defense in Microgravity (NCATS-Lung Host Defense)
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
PI: Dr. G. Scott Worthen

This project will test two engineered microphysiological systems (also called tissue chips or organs-on-chips), one that models the airway and one that models bone marrow, in microgravity. The spaceflight environment has been found to cause human immune dysfunction, and infections are commonly reported onboard spacecraft. However, the mechanisms behind spaceflight-induced immune dysfunction are not well understood. Through use of tissue chips in microgravity, the research team seeks to gain a better understanding of immune dysfunction and the link between immune system health and susceptibility to infection. In a second flight project, the research team plans to combine the airway and bone marrow models to emulate and understand the integrated immune responses of the human respiratory system. Ultimately, this research could lead to novel therapeutics for Earth-based patients with compromised immune systems as well as preventive measures for astronauts during spaceflight.

Commercial Service Provider: Space Tango

National Cancer Institute NExT Space Crystallization Program (PCG-18 NCI)
ASU/National Cancer Institute
PI: Jose M. Martin Garcia

Through this program, the National Cancer Institute’s Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) will conduct multiple protein crystallization experiments on the ISS aimed at drug discovery. The goal is to develop an accelerated drug discovery pipeline that takes advantage of macromolecular crystallization in microgravity and fits within the CBC’s established drug discovery process. In order to achieve this goal, the CBC will utilize commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) microgravity crystallization platforms and establish a queue of multiple high-value cancer-related proteins, allowing for efficient resource utilization and late-stage selection of payloads. This investigation seeks to grow high-quality crystals of the Taspase1 enzyme. Results could help researchers develop drugs to treat cancers such as leukemia, certain types of breast cancer, and glioblastoma (an aggressive brain cancer).

Commercial Service Provider: Bionetics Corporation

Preparation of PLGA Nanoparticles Based on Precipitation Technique (Nanoparticle Formulation)
AstraZeneca
PI: Dr. Puneet Tyagi

This project seeks to advance a novel drug delivery system that uses nanoparticles as carriers for drugs. Small solid particles or liquid droplets containing a therapeutic substance can be enclosed within a shell, providing targeted drug delivery and controlled drug release, which has many advantages over conventional multi-dose therapy. Particle size and size distribution are key to improving these particle-based drug delivery systems, and these properties can be manipulated in microgravity. This project will evaluate a proprietary method of nanoparticle formation in microgravity to better understand nanoparticle fabrication, particle size, and particle size distribution, toward improved drug formulations with greater uptake and efficacy and tolerability by patients.

Commercial Service Provider: Zin Technologies

RED-EYE
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
PI: Dr. David Sharper

RED-EYE is a proprietary investigation to develop and demonstrate technologies that increase the utility of low-cost microsatellites. RED-EYE aims to demonstrate lightweight, low-power, inter-satellite communications links appropriate for the class of satellites that are approximately 100 kg. The RED-EYE satellite will deploy from the ISS via the NanoRacks Kaber MicroSat Deployer.

Commercial Service Provider: NanoRacks

Spaceflight Effects on Vascular Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cell Processes (STaARS BioScience-3)
University of Florida
PI: Josephine Allen

The goal of this investigation is to understand the molecular mechanisms behind vascular cell damage, like those associated with cardiovascular disease on Earth, by exposing vascular cells to the microgravity environment onboard the ISS National Lab. The research team will assess changes in the transcriptomics of vascular cells in space, comparing flight samples with ground-based controls. Insights gained from this investigation will contribute to an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind cardiovascular disease and could open new lines of research and/or treatment options.

Commercial Service Provider: STaARS, Inc.

Story Time from Space
Story Time From Space
PI: Patricia Tribe

Story Time From Space combines science literacy outreach with simple science demonstrations recorded onboard the ISS. Crew members read five science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related children’s books in orbit and complete simple science concept experiments, all of which is video recorded. Video and data collected during the demonstrations are downlinked to the ground and posted in a video library with accompanying educational materials.

Commercial Service Provider: Bionetics Corporation

Structure of Proximal and Distal Tubule Microphysiological Systems (NCATS-Kidney Cells)
University of Washington
PI: Dr. Jonathan Himmelfarb

This project aims to develop physiologically relevant proximal and distal tubule tissue chip systems for study on the ISS National Lab. Through these systems, investigators will examine Vitamin D bioactivation and homeostasis as well as disease models that promote proteinuria (excess protein in the urine) and the formation of kidney stones. Kidney dysfunction can precipitate serious medical conditions including proteinuria, osteoporosis, and the formation of kidney stones. These conditions occur more frequently, and progress faster, in astronauts onboard the ISS. This tissue chip project uses a kidney model to understand how microgravity and other factors affect kidney function, toward development of improved treatment options for patients on Earth.

Commercial Service Provider: BioServe Space Technologies