SpaceX 22th Mission to Carry Water Bears, Cotton Plants to ISS

Varieties

June 3rd, 6:09am

Cairo - Hazem Badr

Backdropped by the blackness of space and Earth's horizon, the International Space Station is seen from space shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation, March 25, 2009. (Reuters Photo)

The 22nd SpaceX cargo resupply mission carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations launches to the International Space Station (ISS) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than June 3. The mission will carry various research components including water bears and cotton plants. Tardigrades, known as water bears due to their appearance under a microscope and common habitat in water, are tiny creatures that tolerate environments more extreme than most life forms can. That makes them a model organism for studying biological survival under extreme conditions on Earth and in space. "Spaceflight can be a really challenging environment for organisms, including humans, who have evolved to the conditions on Earth. One of the things we are really keen to do is understand how tardigrades are surviving and reproducing in these environments and whether we can learn anything about the tricks that they are using and adapt them to safeguard astronauts," says principal investigator Thomas Boothby in a NASA report. The scientists have developed methods for measuring how different environmental conditions affect tardigrade gene expression. This experiment aims to identify the genes involved in adaptation and survival in high stress environments, explains Boothby. They also plan another experiment that aims at understanding the reasons behind the formation of kidney stones among astronauts during their missions to the International Space Station, which affect their health and the results of the mission. The 22nd SpaceX cargo resupply mission will provide the ISS with 3-D kidney cell model to study the effects of microgravity on the formation of microcrystals that can lead to kidney stones. This investigation could reveal critical pathways of kidney disease development and progression, potentially leading to therapies to treat and prevent kidney stones for astronauts. In addition to research aimed at improving the life of astronauts in the ISS, the mission will carry out a third experiment aimed at improving agriculture economies on Earth, especially those relying on cotton plants. Cotton plants that overexpress a certain gene show increased resistance to stressors, such as drought, and yield 20% more cotton fiber than plants without that characteristic under certain stress conditions. This stress resistance has been tentatively linked to having an enhanced root system that can tap into a larger volume of soil for water and nutrients. During this mission, cotton seeds will be planted on the International Space Station, which will improve the understanding of cotton root systems, and associated gene expression could enable development of more robust cotton plants and reduce water and pesticide use.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3006766/spacex-22th-mission-carry-water-bears-cotton-plants-iss