TYB
Feelin' pretty liberated, gotta say.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 1, 2025
A Double Sunrise from a Partial Eclipse
Can the Sun appear to rise twice at the same time? This was just the case a few days ago from Les Escoumins, Quebec, Canada as our Solar System's bright central orb rose just as it was being partially eclipsed by the Moon. The featured video shows this unusual double-sunrise in real time and being reflected by the St. Lawrence River. Soon after the initial two spots of light appear over distant clouds, what appears to be bright horns become visible – which are really just parts of the Sun not being eclipsed. Soon, the entire eclipsed Sun is visible above the horizon. In all, this broken sunrise took less than two minutes during a partial eclipse that lasted many times longer. Although the Moon circles the Earth once a month (moon-th), it does not always eclipse the Sun because its tilted orbit usually takes it above or below.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTkbHJsqCZM
Janet Petro Speaks at Space Science Week
April 1, 2025
Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro just gave a plenary overview of NASA science at NAS Space Science Week [audio]
This was a clear snapshot of what NASA science is, how the agency leads the world in this endeavor, its importance as an economic multiplier, and its value as an enabling tool for all forms of exploration.
Of course, no details were offered on budgets, personnel, etc. Petro said “While I cannot speculate on decisions that have not been made yet, I can tell you this: NASA’s commitment to scientific excellence has never waivered and it will not waiver now.”
“NASA is and will continue to be the global leader in space exploration and scientific discovery”.
Of course, this is all moot if the White House/OSTP/OMB/OPM/DOGE says “Yea, yea, yea. So what. You’re still cut.”
https://nasawatch.com/uncategorized/janet-petro-speaks-at-space-science-week/
https://soundcloud.com/keith-cowing/acting-nasa-administrator-janet-petro-speaks-at-space-science-week
Sol 4496: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection
March 31, 2025
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took 31 images in Gale Crater using its mast-mounted Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) to create this mosaic.
The seam-corrected mosaic provides a 360-degree cylindrical projection panorama of the Martian surface centered at 213 degrees azimuth (measured clockwise from north).
Curiosity took the images on March 31, 2025, Sol 4496 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 2214, site number 114. The local mean solar time for the image exposures was from 3 PM to 4 PM.
Each Navcam image has a 45 degree field of view.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4496-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4493-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4491-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4489-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sol-4487-right-navigation-camera-cylindrical-projection/
https://science.nasa.gov/open-science/archival-data-discoveries/
Old Missions, New Discoveries: NASA’s Data Archives Accelerate Science
Mar 31, 2025
Every NASA mission represents a leap into the unknown, collecting data that pushes the boundaries of human understanding. But the story doesn’t end when the mission concludes.
The data carefully preserved in NASA’s archives often finds new purpose decades later, unlocking discoveries that continue to benefit science, technology, and society.
“NASA’s science data is one of our most valuable legacies,” said Kevin Murphy, NASA’s chief science data officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“It carries the stories of our missions, the insights of our discoveries, and the potential for future breakthroughs.”
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate manages an immense amount of data, spanning astrophysics, biological and physical sciences, Earth science, heliophysics, and planetary science.
Currently, NASA’s science data holdings exceed 100 petabytes—enough to store 20 billion photos from the average modern smartphone. This volume is expected to grow significantly with new missions.
This vast amount of data enables new discoveries, connecting scientific observations together in meaningful ways. Over 50% of scientific publications rely on archived data, which NASA provides to millions of commercial, government, and scientific users.
Managing and stewarding such massive volumes of information requires careful planning, robust infrastructure, and innovative strategies to ensure the data is accessible, secure, and sustainable.
Continued support for data storage and cutting-edge technology is key to ensuring future generations of researchers can continue to explore using science data from NASA missions.
Modern technology, such as image processing and artificial intelligence, helps unlock new insights from previous observations.
For example, in 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft conducted a historic flyby of Uranus, capturing detailed data on the planet and its environment.
Decades later, in the early 2000s, scientists used advanced image processing techniques on this archival data to discover two small moons, Perdita and Cupid, which had gone unnoticed during the initial analysis.
In 2024, researchers revisited this 38-year-old archival data and identified a critical solar wind event that compressed Uranus's magnetosphere just before the Voyager 2 flyby.
This rare event, happening only about four percent of the time, provided unique insights into Uranus’s magnetic field and its interaction with space weather.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched in 2009, continues to provide data that reshapes our understanding of the Moon.
In 2018, scientists analyzing the LRO’s archival data confirmed the presence of water ice in permanently shadowed regions at the Moon’s poles.
In 2024, new studies out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, showed widespread evidence of water ice within the permanently shadowed regions outside the lunar South Pole, further aiding lunar mission planners.
This discovery not only holds implications for lunar exploration but also demonstrates how existing data can yield groundbreaking insights.
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NASA’s data archives uncover the secrets of our own planet as well as others. In 2024, archaeologists published a study revealing a “lost” Mayan city in Campeche, Mexico that was previously unknown to the scientific community.
The researchers identified the city in archival airborne Earth science data, including a 2013 dataset from NASA Goddard’s LiDAR Hyperspectral & Thermal Imager (G-LiHT) mission.
The Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) project provides frequent high-resolution observations of Earth’s surface. Data from HLS has been instrumental in tracking urban growth over time.
By analyzing changes in land cover, researchers have used HLS to monitor the expansion of cities and infrastructure development.
For example, in rapidly growing metropolitan areas, HLS data has revealed patterns of urban sprawl, helping planners analyze past trends to predict future metropolitan expansion.
These discoveries represent only a fraction of what’s possible. NASA is investing in new technologies to harness the full potential of its data archives, including artificial intelligence (AI) foundation models—open-source AI tools designed to extract new findings from existing science data.
"Our vision is to develop at least one AI model for each NASA scientific discipline, turning decades of legacy data into a treasure trove of discovery,” said Murphy.
“By embedding NASA expertise into these tools, we ensure that our scientific data continues to drive innovation across science, industry, and society for generations to come."
Developed under a collaboration between NASA’s Office of the Chief Science Data Officer, IBM, and universities, these AI models are scientifically validated and adaptable to new datasets, making them invaluable for researchers and industries alike.
“It’s like having a virtual assistant that leverages decades of NASA’s knowledge to make smarter, quicker decisions,” said Murphy.
The team’s Earth science foundation models—the Prithvi Geospatial model and Prithvi Weather model—analyze vast datasets to monitor Earth’s changing landscape, track weather patterns, and support critical decision-making processes.
Building on this success, the team is now developing a foundation model for heliophysics. This model will unlock new insights about the dynamics of solar activity and space weather, which can affect satellite operations, communication systems, and even power grids on Earth.
Additionally, a model designed for the Moon is in progress, aiming to enhance our understanding of lunar resources and environments.
This investment in AI not only shortens the “data-to-discovery” timeline but also ensures that NASA’s data archives continue to drive innovation. From uncovering new planets to informing future exploration and supporting industries on Earth, the possibilities are boundless.
By maintaining extensive archives and embracing cutting-edge technologies, the agency ensures that the data collected today will continue to inspire and inform discoveries far into the future. In doing so, NASA’s legacy science data truly remains the gift that keeps on giving.
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April’s Night Sky Notes: Catch the Waves!
Apr 01, 2025
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
If you’ve ever heard the term “radio waves,” used a microwave or a television remote, or had an X-ray, you have experienced a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum! But what is the electromagnetic spectrum?
According to Merriam-Webster, this spectrum is “the entire range of wavelengths or frequencies of electromagnetic radiation extending from gamma rays to the longest radio waves and including visible light.”
But what does that mean? Scientists think of the entire electromagnetic spectrum as many types of light, only some that we can see with our eyes.
We can detect others with our bodies, like infrared light, which we feel as heat, and ultraviolet light, which can give us sunburns. Astronomers have created many detectors that can "see" in the full spectrum of wavelengths.
Telescope Types
While multiple types of telescopes operate across the electromagnetic spectrum, here are some of the largest, based on the wavelength they primarily work in:
Radio: probably the most famous radio telescope observatory would be the Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro County, New Mexico.
This set of 25-meter radio telescopes was featured in the 1997 movie Contact. Astronomers use these telescopes to observe protoplanetary disks and black holes.
Another famous set of radio telescopes would be the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) located in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
ALMA was one of eight radio observatories that helped produce the first image of supermassive black holes at the center of M87 and Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy.
Radio telescopes have also been used to study the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Infrared: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) operates in the infrared, allowing astronomers to see some of the earliest galaxies formed nearly 300 million years after the Big Bang.
Infrared light allows astronomers to study galaxies and nebulae, which dense dust clouds would otherwise obscure. An excellent example is the Pillars of Creation located in the Eagle Nebula.
With the side-by-side image comparison below, you can see the differences between what JWST and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) were able to capture with their respective instruments.
Visible: While it does have some near-infrared and ultraviolet capabilities, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has primarily operated in the visible light spectrum for the last 35 years.
With over 1.6 million observations made, HST has played an integral role in how we view the universe. Review Hubble’s Highlights here.
X-ray: Chandra X-ray Observatory was designed to detect emissions from the hottest parts of our universe, like exploding stars. X-rays help us better understand the composition of deep space objects, highlighting areas unseen by visible light and infrared telescopes.
This image of the Crab Nebula combines data from five different telescopes: The VLA (radio) in red; Spitzer Space Telescope (infrared) in yellow; Hubble Space Telescope (visible) in green; XMM-Newton (ultraviolet) in blue; and Chandra X-ray Observatory (X-ray) in purple.
You can view the breakdown of this multiwavelength image here.
Try This At Home
Even though we can’t see these other wavelengths with our eyes, learn how to create multiwavelength images with the Cosmic Coloring Compositor activity and explore how astronomers use representational color to show light that our eyes cannot see with our Clues to the Cosmos activity.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/night-sky-network/apr2025-night-sky-notes/
20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights
Mar 31, 2025
The ice-giant planet Uranus, which travels around the Sun tipped on its side, is a weird and mysterious world.
Now, in an unprecedented study spanning two decades, researchers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered new insights into the planet's atmospheric composition and dynamics.
This was possible only because of Hubble’s sharp resolution, spectral capabilities, and longevity.
The team’s results will help astronomers to better understand how the atmosphere of Uranus works and responds to changing sunlight.
These long-term observations provide valuable data for understanding the atmospheric dynamics of this distant ice giant, which can serve as a proxy for studying exoplanets of similar size and composition.
When Voyager 2 flew past Uranus in 1986, it provided a close-up snapshot of the sideways planet. What it saw resembled a bland, blue-green billiard ball.
By comparison, Hubble chronicled a 20-year story of seasonal changes from 2002 to 2022.
Over that period, a team led by Erich Karkoschka of the University of Arizona, and Larry Sromovsky and Pat Fry from the University of Wisconsin used the same Hubble instrument, STIS (the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph), to paint an accurate picture of the atmospheric structure of Uranus.
Uranus' atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium, with a small amount of methane and traces of water and ammonia. The methane gives Uranus its cyan color by absorbing the red wavelengths of sunlight.
The Hubble team observed Uranus four times in the 20-year period: in 2002, 2012, 2015, and 2022. They found that, unlike conditions on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter, methane is not uniformly distributed across Uranus.
Instead, it is strongly depleted near the poles. This depletion remained relatively constant over the two decades.
However, the aerosol and haze structure changed dramatically, brightening significantly in the northern polar region as the planet approaches its northern summer solstice in 2030.
Uranus takes a little over 84 Earth years to complete a single orbit of the Sun.
So, over two decades, the Hubble team has only seen mostly northern spring as the Sun moves from shining directly over Uranus’ equator toward shining almost directly over its north pole in 2030.
Hubble observations suggest complex atmospheric circulation patterns on Uranus during this period.
The data that are most sensitive to the methane distribution indicate a downwelling in the polar regions and upwelling in other regions.
The team analyzed their results in several ways. The image columns show the change of Uranus for the four years that STIS observed Uranus across a 20-year period.
Over that span of time, the researchers watched the seasons of Uranus as the south polar region (left) darkened going into winter shadow while the north polar region (right) brightened as it began to come into a more direct view as northern summer approaches.
The top row, in visible light, shows how the color of Uranus appears to the human eye as seen through even an amateur telescope.
In the second row, the false-color image of the planet is assembled from visible and near-infrared light observations. The color and brightness correspond to the amounts of methane and aerosols.
Both of these quantities could not be distinguished before Hubble's STIS was first aimed at Uranus in 2002. Generally, green areas indicate less methane than blue areas, and red areas show no methane.
The red areas are at the limb, where the stratosphere of Uranus is almost completely devoid of methane.
The two bottom rows show the latitude structure of aerosols and methane inferred from 1,000 different wavelengths (colors) from visible to near infrared.
In the third row, bright areas indicate cloudier conditions, while the dark areas represent clearer conditions. In the fourth row, bright areas indicate depleted methane, while dark areas show the full amount of methane.
At middle and low latitudes, aerosols and methane depletion have their own latitudinal structure that mostly did not change much over the two decades of observation.
However, in the polar regions, aerosols and methane depletion behave very differently.
In the third row, the aerosols near the north pole display a dramatic increase, showing up as very dark during early northern spring, turning very bright in recent years.
Aerosols also seem to disappear at the left limb as the solar radiation disappeared. This is evidence that solar radiation changes the aerosol haze in the atmosphere of Uranus.
On the other hand, methane depletion seems to stay quite high in both polar regions throughout the observing period.
Astronomers will continue to observe Uranus as the planet approaches northern summer.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/20-year-hubble-study-of-uranus-yields-new-atmospheric-insights/
Fixing cracks in space bricks with bacteria
April 1, 2025
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a bacteria-based technique to repair bricks that can be used to build lunar habitats if they get damaged in the moon's harsh environment.
Future lunar expeditions are no longer planned as just flyby missions. NASA's Artemis program, for example, seeks to set up a permanent habitat on the moon.
To cut costs, instead of carrying material from Earth, astronauts would need to use the abundantly available lunar soil or "regolith"—a complex mixture of broken minerals and rocks—to build structures on site.
A few years ago, researchers at the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), IISc, developed a technique that uses a soil bacterium called Sporosarcina pasteurii to build bricks out of lunar and Martian soil simulants.
The bacterium converts urea and calcium into calcium carbonate crystals that, along with guar gum, glue the soil particles together to create brick-like materials. This process is an eco-friendly and low-cost alternative to using cement.
Subsequently, the team also explored sintering—heating a compacted mixture of soil simulant and a polymer called polyvinyl alcohol to very high temperatures—to create much stronger bricks.
"It's one of the classical ways of making bricks," explains Aloke Kumar, Associate Professor at ME and corresponding author of the study. "It makes bricks of very high strength, more than adequate even for regular housing."
Sintering is an easily scalable process—multiple bricks can be made at once in a furnace.
But the lunar surface is extremely harsh—temperatures can swing from 121°C to -133°C in a single day and it is constantly bombarded by solar winds and meteorites. This can cause cracks in these bricks, weakening structures built using them.
"Temperature changes can be much more dramatic on the lunar surface, which can, over a period of time, have a significant effect," explains co-author Koushik Viswanathan, Associate Professor at ME.
"Sintered bricks are brittle. If you have a crack and it grows, the entire structure can quickly fall apart."
To solve this problem, the team once again turned to bacteria.
In a new study, they created different types of artificial defects in sintered bricks and poured a slurry made from S. pasteurii, guar gum, and lunar soil simulant into them. The work is published in the journal Frontiers in Space Technologies.
Over a few days, the slurry penetrated into the defects and the bacterium produced calcium carbonate, which filled them up.
The bacterium also produced biopolymers which acted as adhesives that strongly bound the soil particles together with the residual brick structure, thereby recovering much of the brick's lost strength.
This process can stave off the need to replace damaged bricks with new ones, extending the lifespan of built structures.
"We were initially not sure if the bacteria would bind to the sintered brick," says Kumar. "But we found that the bacteria can not only solidify the slurry but also adhere well to this other mass."
The reinforced bricks were also able to withstand temperatures ranging from 100°C to 175°C.
"One of the big questions is about the behavior of these bacteria in extraterrestrial conditions," says Kumar. "Will their nature change? Will they stop doing [the carbonate production]? Those things are still unknown."
The team is currently working on a proposal to dispatch a sample of S. pasteurii into space as part of the Gaganyaan mission, to test their growth and behavior under microgravity.
Viswanathan says, "If that happens, to our knowledge, it will be the first experiment of its kind with this type of bacteria."
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-space-bricks-bacteria.html
https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frspt.2025.1550526
Space Debris: Is it a Crisis?
01/04/2025
Space Debris: Is it a Crisis?
The European Space Agency’s short documentary film ‘Space Debris: Is it a Crisis?’ on the state of space debris premiered at the 9th European Conference on Space Debris on 1 April 2025.
Earth is surrounded by thousands of satellites carrying out important work to provide telecommunications and navigation services, help us understand our climate, and answer fundamental questions about the Universe.
However, as our use of space accelerates like never before, these satellites find themselves navigating increasingly congested orbits in an environment criss-crossed by streams of fast-moving debris fragments resulting from collisions, fragmentations and breakups in space.
Each fragment can damage additional satellites, with fears that a cascade of collisions may eventually render some orbits around Earth no longer useable.
Additionally, the extent of the harm of the drastic increase in launches and number of objects re-entering our atmosphere and oceans is not yet known.
So, does space debris already represent a crisis?
The documentary explores the current situation in Earth’s orbits and explains the threat space debris poses to our future in space.
It also outlines what might be done about space debris and how we might reach true sustainability in space, because our actions today will have consequences for generations to come.
ESA’s Space Safety Programme
ESA’s Space Safety Programme aims to safeguard the future of spaceflight and to keep us, Earth and our infrastructure on the ground and in space safe from hazards originating in space.
From asteroids and solar storms to the human-made problem of space debris, ESA works on missions and projects to understand the dangers and mitigate them.
In the longer term, to ensure a safe and sustainable future in space, ESA aims to establish a circular economy in space. To get there, the Agency is working on the technology development necessary to make in-orbit servicing and zero-debris spacecraft a reality.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2025/04/Space_Debris_Is_it_a_Crisis
https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/ESA_Space_Environment_Report_2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIsPbysinKw
Fifty 1 Labs, Inc. Celebrates Groundbreaking SpaceX, NASA, and ISS Yeast Experiment by Subsidiary Genetic Networks
04/01/2025 - 09:42 AM
Fifty 1 Labs announces a major space research breakthrough through its subsidiary Genetic Networks, featuring groundbreaking yeast experiments on the recent SpaceX Fram2 mission.
Led by Dr. Corey Nislow, the research builds on over a decade of space-based functional genomics, from the final Space Shuttle mission to Artemis I.
The latest experiment, launched on SpaceX's Fram2 mission, involves yeast strains engineered with tardigrade-derived transgenes to study their response to microgravity and cosmic radiation.
This research aims to advance applications in human radiation therapy, particularly for cancer treatments.
Dr. Nislow's work focuses on understanding life's adaptation to space conditions, with implications for pharmaceutical development and space exploration.
Genetic Networks plans to expand its SpaceX collaboration with multiple missions scheduled for 2025 and beyond, strengthening Fifty 1 Labs' position in biotechnology innovation both on Earth and in space.
Fifty 1 Labs, Inc. (Ticker: FITY), a forward-thinking leader in biotechnology and health innovation, proudly announces a significant milestone in space research achieved by its recently acquired subsidiary, Genetic Networks.
This milestone stems from over a decade of space-based functional genomics from Dr. Corey Nislow's laboratory.
Beginning with STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission to the ISS, through a successful sample return following lunar orbit on Artemis I, reported by CBC News on January 18, 2023 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/yeast-space-experiment-1.6711816), this work highlights the pivotal role of functional genomics in diverse aspects of human health and wellness.
"These experiments are crucial to build a solid foundation to understand how life can adapt to the stresses of space, including microgravity and cosmic radiation beyond our planet," Dr. Nislow stated, as quoted in the original CBC report.
"The data we've gathered could unlock new pathways for pharmaceutical development and human health in space exploration."
His leadership and innovative approach have solidified Genetic Networks' reputation as a pioneer in genetic profiling, a strength that now significantly enhances Fifty 1 Labs' capabilities following the acquisition.
Since integrating Genetic Networks into its portfolio, Fifty 1 Labs has gained not only cutting-edge technology but also the invaluable contributions of Dr. Nislow, whose work bridges terrestrial biotechnology with space exploration.
His vision for leveraging genetic insights to solve complex biological challenges aligns seamlessly with Fifty 1 Labs' mission to advance human health.
The yeast experiment's findings—made possible through Dr. Nislow's expertise—open doors to applications ranging from resilient biological systems for long-duration space missions to novel therapeutics for Earth-based medicine.
Looking ahead, Genetic Networks is expanding its collaboration with SpaceX, with multiple missions planned for 2025 and the years to come.
"We are thrilled to celebrate this achievement by Genetic Networks and to have Dr. Corey Nislow as a key part of our team through this acquisition," said Gennaro D'Urso, CEO of Fifty 1 Labs, Inc.
"Corey's leadership in space genomics, combined with Genetic Networks' upcoming SpaceX missions, exemplifies the forward-thinking innovation we aim to champion at Fifty 1 Labs.
His presence brings tremendous value, amplifying our ability to push the boundaries of biotechnology on Earth and beyond."
In the Nislow labs' latest experiment which launched last night on SpaceX's Fram2 mission, yeast strains were engineered to express transgenes derived from tardigrades, micro animals that are known for their extraordinary resistance to radiation, were flown to measure their response to microgravity and cosmic radiation.
The data will inform terrestrial applications for these transgenes in humans, including those undergoing radiation-based cancer therapies.
Fifty 1 Labs, Inc. invites investors, researchers, and the public to follow its journey as it leverages this milestone to drive innovation.
https://www.stocktitan.net/news/FITY/fifty-1-labs-inc-celebrates-groundbreaking-space-x-nasa-and-iss-xlawtplwbkht.html
https://geneticnetworks.com/
Sending Microbes to Space Could Improve Astronaut Health
April 01, 2025
Though most of us will never step foot onto a spaceship, space travel has had a deep impact on human life and society, particularly when it comes to health and medicine.
Because low-gravity conditions cause dramatic changes in our cells and tissues, space exploration allows scientists to conduct biomedical experiments that are impossible on Earth, which has enabled the discovery of new drugs, inspired the development of new medical devices, and helped us better understand aging and other biological processes.
However, these experiments require astronauts to run them, and the human body is not designed to live on a space station. Astronauts often experience a variety of health problems while in space, including immune dysfunction, skin rashes and other inflammatory conditions.
If not properly managed, these types of health issues can result in more human error and reduced length of space missions, ultimately reducing the quantity and quality of the experiments on board and slowing the pace of scientific progress.
Now, research from UC San Diego has helped shed light on what causes health issues in astronauts and what could be done to make them healthier.
The findings, published in the journal Cell, could help empower the next generation of space-based research and also have implications for the health and safety of people in sterile environments here on Earth.
The researchers collaborated with astronauts who swabbed 803 different surfaces on the International Space Station (ISS)—around 100 times more samples than have been taken in previous surveys.
Back on Earth, the researchers identified which bacterial species and chemicals were present in each sample. Then, they created three-dimensional maps illustrating where each was found on the ISS and how the bacteria and chemicals might be interacting.
“It’s possible the extremely sterile environment of the ISS may not be healthy in the long term for astronauts, who could benefit from interactions with more Earth-like microbes while in space,” said co-corresponding author Pieter Dorrestein, Ph.D., a professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego and a 2024 Highly Cited Researcher.
“In addition to the ISS, there are many other places on Earth where microbe levels are kept low for extended periods of time, such as hospitals or submarines, where we may need to diversify the microbial environment.”
When they compared the ISS to different human-built environments on Earth, the researchers found that the ISS microbial communities were less diverse than most of the samples from Earth.
The ISS samples were more similar to samples from industrialized, isolated environments, such as hospitals and closed habitats, and homes in urbanized areas.
Compared to most of the Earth samples, the ISS surfaces were lacking in free-living environmental microbes that are usually found in soil and water. Most of the microbes they found on ISS were associated with human skin.
Because exposure to a wide variety of bacteria in various settings can help boost the immune system, the researchers hypothesize that astronauts may develop inflammatory conditions because their immune system is insufficiently challenged in space.
However, this also suggests that astronauts’ health could benefit from intentionally introducing more microbial diversity to the space station.
The researchers compare this suggestion to the well-studied beneficial impacts of gardening on the immune system.
“There’s a big difference between exposure to healthy soil from gardening versus stewing in our own filth, which is kind of what happens if we're in a strictly enclosed environment with no ongoing input of those healthy sources of microbes from the outside,” says co-corresponding author Rob Knight, Ph.D., who was recently named the 2025 Scientist of the Year by the Achievement Rewards for College Students (ARCS) Foundation San Diego chapter and is also a 2024 Highly Cited Researcher.
In the future, the researchers hope to refine their analyses to be able to detect potentially pathogenic microbes and signals of human health from environmental metabolites.
They say that these methods could also help improve the health of people living and working in similarly sterile environments on Earth, such as hospitals or submarines.
https://today.ucsd.edu/story/sending-microbes-to-space-could-improve-astronaut-health
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867425001084?via%3Dihub
Astronauts launch sideways into history books
March 31, 2025
The latest private space mission has launched four astronauts into a sideways orbit that has never been attempted before with a crewed spacecraft.
At 9:46 pm EDT, the Fram2 mission lifted off atop a Falcon 9 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Fram2, named after the famous polar exploration ship Fram, is not the first privately funded and conducted spaceflight but it is historic because it has accomplished something that no other crewed space mission has done.
Using a chartered SpaceX Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 launcher, the crew of four lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. However, instead of flying in the direction of the Earth's rotation to gain more momentum, it turned due south.
What's significant about this is that most crewed missions have followed orbits inclined to the equator at an angle between 28.5° and 51.6°.
The largest inclination in history was in 1963 when the Soviet Vostok 6 mission with Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to travel to space, aboard reached an inclination of 65°, or about that of Fairbanks, Alaska.
That record has now been broken as Fram2 reached an inclination of 90°, or at right angles to the equator.
The result of this is that the Dragon capsule will pass over the North and South Poles 55 times over a span of three to five days and, if it remained in space long enough, would pass over every point on the globe as well.
Though polar orbits have been used by many satellites, especially those designed for military reconnaissance, there are reasons why a crewed flight hasn't been attempted until now.
For one thing, a polar orbit requires more fuel than an equatorial one. In addition, the Earth's equatorial bulge causes frequent gravitational perturbations that shift the orbit, there's more atmospheric drag when going over the poles, and reentry is a much more complex operation.
Along with this, Fram2 will also face higher exposure to cosmic radiation because the craft will move out the Earth's magnetic field over the poles, there is rapid temperature variation because there are sudden jumps from sunlight to darkness, and problems with communications because the polar regions aren't very well covered by ground stations.
The crew of Fram2 consists of Mission Commander Chun Wang, Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen, Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips.
During their stay in space, they are expected to conduct a series of experiments, including the first anatomical X-rays taken in space, sending television images to ham radio enthusiasts, and the first cultivation of mushrooms in space.
However, there will be no fry up of the mushrooms in orbit, which is a pity because they're oyster mushrooms and quite delicious when sauteed in clarified butter with a generous dash of coarse salt.
I suppose they'd need toast as well and that would complicate things.
According to SpaceX, the Dragon spacecraft has flown Crew-1 to and from the International Space Station (ISS); Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit; and Polaris Dawn, the first commercial mission to conduct a spacewalk.
The first stage booster has now flown six times and was recovered with a powered landing on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
"After extensive training and dedication from our entire crew, we are honored to continue the legacy of the Fram name in an exciting era of commercial space exploration,” said Chun Wang, Mission Commander prior to launch.
"We are thankful for this opportunity, and we are grateful to SpaceX for making this mission a reality – we are excited to be the first crew to view and capture the Earth’s polar regions from low-Earth orbit and support important research to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration."
https://newatlas.com/space/watch-astronauts-launch-sideways-history-books/
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1906870902467469816