After almost a year in space, NASA astronaut Christina Koch is coming home. When Koch returns to Earth, she will have lived in space for 328 days, setting the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. On Dec. 28, 2019, she surpassed the previous record of 288 days held by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. Her extended mission will provide researchers the opportunity to observe effects of long-duration spaceflight on a woman as the agency plans to return to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration at Mars. During this record-setting mission, Koch spent many of her hours on science activities aboard the space station and wore many hats: farmer, biologist, physicist, engineer, test subject and many more.
Here is a look back at Koch’s efforts as she conducted research in microgravity on Mizuna mustard greens, combustion, bioprinting and kidney diseases, among others.
Human Health and Performance
Astronauts facilitate and conduct numerous experiments during their missions, and they also are experiments themselves, helping us understand how the human body adapts to spaceflight. Investigations in which Koch participated as a research subject volunteer are helping provide standard baseline measurements with better health data from space that will allow researchers to compare data more accurately; evaluate strategies for improved individual and team performance; and ensure astronauts maintain healthy immune systems. Here, Koch is helping store samples for a Human Research Program experiment.
Space Crop Production
Astronauts grew leafy greens frequently during Koch’s time aboard. She conducted a number of botany studies in microgravity that will help us better understand the role of gravity and the spaceflight environment on plant biology at many levels: cellular, tissue, whole plant and community. In the bottom picture, Koch collects and packs Mizuna mustard greens grown in space. Some of the leaves were consumed by the crew as a taste test, while the rest were stowed in a science freezer for analysis on Earth. In addition to providing fresh food for the crew, results of this research will help engineers to design improved sustainable biological life support systems.
New Robotic Partners
Inside Japan's Kibo laboratory module, Koch monitors a test of the free-flying Astrobee robotic assistant. Astrobee is designed to help scientists and engineers develop and test new technologies to assist astronauts with routine chores, and give ground controllers additional eyes and ears on the space station. The set of three autonomous robots, powered by fans and vision-based navigation, perform crew monitoring, take environmental samples and assist logistics management on the orbiting laboratory.
Keeping the Flames Burning
Koch works on the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) Chamber insert, which is attached to the maintenance work area for hardware replacement. ACME is a set of five independent studies researching how fire behaves in space with the goal of improving fuel efficiency, reducing pollutant production in combustion on Earth and preventing spacecraft fires. The crew members set up the hardware, gas bottles, etc. for each set of tests, which scientists run from Earth at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Studying Kidney Health
Although serious medical conditions caused by poor kidney health – including osteoporosis and kidney stones – could occur during spaceflight, none of these has been observed during long-duration missions. Here Koch works inside the Life Sciences Glovebox conducting research for the Kidney Cells investigation that seeks innovative treatments for kidney stones, osteoporosis and toxic chemical exposures. This experiment examines how kidney health is affected by microgravity and other factors of space travel, including water conservation and recycling, and altered diets. The results of these studies will help protect the health of astronauts and contribute to better treatments for kidney-related conditions on Earth.
One of the Coldest Places in the Universe
Koch floats through the station with science hardware in tow. The equipment is stowed inside a cargo transfer bag retrieved from the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. The hardware is part of the Cold Atom Laboratory that produces clouds of atoms chilled to about one ten billionth of a degree above absolute zero: much colder than the average temperature of deep space. At these low temperatures, atoms have almost no motion, allowing scientists to study fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics that are difficult or impossible to probe at higher temperatures.
The Window to the World
Here Koch looks through the station's "window to the world," the seven-windowed cupola. She was photographing landmarks as the orbiting lab flew 259 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. While astronauts look out this window for fun, they also use it to make valuable Earth observations such as unexpected weather events, which robotic sensing platforms cannot capture. The station is home to many Earth observation experiments and some of the highest quality optics ever flown on a human-occupied spacecraft. For example, the International Space Station Agricultural Camera (ISSAC) collected data from the red and near-infrared bands of the light spectrum to reveal changes in vegetation on the northern Great Plains far below.
Mixing It Up
Here Koch checks out hardware for the Capillary Structures experiment. The investigation studies a new method of using structures of specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures for more reliable life support systems on future space missions. Capillary systems can be simpler to use than current water-purification and air-cleaning systems because they rely on specific geometric shapes and fluid dynamics rather than complex machinery. Similar technology also could be used in water recovery systems, desalination plants and other facilities on Earth.
Getting a Closer Look
Koch uses a microscope to observe and photograph growing protein crystal samples as part of the Microgravity Crystals experiment. Protein crystals grown in microgravity are larger and more organized than those grown on Earth in the presence of gravity. Understanding how and why this is can help researchers from all fields better develop, formulate, manufacture and store various products, including pharmaceuticals.
Printing Tissue
The BioFabrication Facility installed during Koch’s time on station will be tested for its ability to print organ-like tissues, taking a step toward proving the viability of making human organs in space. The orbiting laboratory is a great place to perform this type of research because printing the tiny, complex structures found inside human organs, such as capillary structures, may be done easier in microgravity since it has proven difficult so far to accomplish in Earth’s gravity environment.
Ready for Deployment
Koch works inside Japan's Kibo laboratory module setting up a small satellite deployer loaded with three CubeSats developed by the nations of Japan, Rwanda and Egypt. The deployer was placed inside Kibo's airlock before the Japanese robotic arm grappled it and moved it outside Kibo where it ejected all three CubeSats into Earth orbit.
Although Koch is returning to Earth, science aboard the space station continues. Innovative investigations that seek to benefit humans on Earth and further our exploration of the solar system are ongoing. Follow @ISS_Research to keep up with the science happening aboard your orbiting laboratory.
Last Updated: Feb. 3, 2020
Editor: Michael Johnson
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