Spaceflight does strange, rapid things to the human body. Six months in orbit can age an astronaut by 10 to 20 years on Earth.
Now, small models of living human tissue are riding a rocket into orbit to help explain why, and their journey could transform medicine both in deep space and on Earth.
On Tuesday, NASA and SpaceX launched the 35th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-35) mission. A Falcon 9 rocket roared into the morning sky from Cape Canaveral, carrying over 6,300 pounds of vital cargo and cutting-edge science toward the International Space Station (ISS).
Among the most interesting payloads packed inside the Dragon spacecraft are tiny, lab-grown “mini organs”.
Mini organs in space
In a collaboration between Mount Sinai, NASA, and aerospace company Space Tango, researchers sent up to 16 miniature human heart models and lab-grown brain organoids into orbit.
Floating in microgravity and exposed to space radiation, these tiny tissue models will act as accelerated biological test subjects.
Studying miniature organs in microgravity is beneficial for various reasons. It helps anticipate the health challenges astronauts will face during long missions, while simultaneously offering a unique model to accelerate research on human aging and age-related diseases on Earth.
To support these living tissues, Space Tango integrated them into CubeLab. It is a miniature automated laboratory that mimics the natural environment of the human body. Inside it, researchers will deliver electrical signals to monitor how 3D heart models contract and react to near-zero gravity.
Microgravity rapidly accelerates biological aging. As a result, experts can gather vital health data from these miniature organs in a fraction of the usual time. Eventually, these fast-tracked studies could help uncover potential treatments for neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The research may also speed up drug development for heart failure and vascular stiffness.
What else rode the rocket?
The mini organs weren’t the only futuristic cargo making the trip.
This resupply mission delivered a diverse suite of advanced experiments and hardware to the International Space Station. These payloads include zero-gravity manufacturing of artificial retinas to restore human vision, studies on fungal crop diseases to improve food security, and monitoring of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to combat superbugs.
The shipment also includes a rapid diagnostic microplate reader to instantly analyze astronaut health markers and the final pair of iROSA solar arrays to upgrade the space station’s power grid.
“Research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency deep space missions,” NASA noted in the press statement.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock autonomously with the ISS Harmony module this Thursday. The crew will spend weeks conducting these experiments before Dragon departs with time-critical research samples to splash down off the California coast around mid-November.
These microscopic mini organs could hold the key to protecting astronaut health as space agencies prepare for long missions to the Moon and Mars. At the same time, insights gained from this orbital research will help people on Earth live longer and healthier lives.