Space Biology Being Studied on the International Space Station (ISS)

0:01As we send people on long-term missions farther and farther into space on missions beyond low Earth orbit and the moon, we need to know more about the physiological risks in order to solve the considerable obstacles to human space exploration. Physiological problems such as weightlessness, immune system changes or bone loss during long duration human exploration can be better understood in the microgravity environment aboard the ISS. These are studied and explored together with a crew and the biological model systems. Space biologists are also studying the role of Earth's organisms, animals, plants and microbes in long-term life support systems and biohabitats in space or on planetary surfaces.

1:08Space biology is NASA's hypothesis driven discovery based biological science in space and the associated technology that goes along with that. Human health is a very important part of space life sciences and space biology is this discovery-based animal and plant and cell research that leads to those new countermeasures for going beyond low Earth orbit. In space, cells do change and we want to understand not just what's changing but how the proteins that are changing are working in the cell and how that's adapting and responding to the space environment. There are several microscopes on board the ISS to aid space biologists in their investigations. The Light Microscopy Module, or LMM, has already helped physicists and engineers develop novel

1:55advanced materials and improve consumer products both for Earth and in space applications. The LMM is ready to provide a unique vantage point from which to study the effects of space on biology. Using a modified commercial Leica RXA laboratory microscope, the NASA Glenn Research Center has configured the LMM to allow real-time interaction and manipulation of experiments in space and ground-based controls. Interaction with the experiments is now routine, based on experience for staff, researchers and the in-flight ISS crew. The LMM is located inside the Fluids Integrated Rack of the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module aboard the International Space Station. The FIR rack provides the Lmm with common laboratory infrastructure including an optics bench,

2:45Temperature Control, Power, Illumination, Imaging, Data Processing and Isolation from Vibrations so that high magnification images can be captured without jitter. The Light Microscopy Module uses the existing electronics of the Leica microscope supplemented with unique and innovative internal and external electronics to support remote operation, enhanced automation and superior imaging. Motors and linear actuators motorize the microscope's manual functions. Engineers at NASA Glenn Research Center equip the Leica with 23 micromotors which permit remote control by scientists on the ground and reduce ISS crew time requirements in space. This tends to increase the available time for research. Two identical high-resolution black and white cameras can be mounted on the headpiece, one

3:39coaxially in the viewing axis of the microscope. The other can be bounded at an angle in the tube assembly. Additionally, a small surveillance camera is available to be mounted inside the Auxiliary Fluids Container where sample cells are processed and contained. Imaging techniques include bright field and fluorescence from 2.5 to 100x. The Flight LMM Microscope Fluorescence Turret has eight locations which are occupied with the following filters, FITC, Texas Red, a Polarizer, Half Mirror, DAPI, a 50-50 Beam The LMM has previously imaged regular and specialty microscope slides, including Petri dishes and OptiCells, which allow oxygen transport through a membrane and provide for containment of the biological sample and the sample medium.

4:52The benefits were being able to view the experiment as it develops on orbit is huge because in able to see things as they're functioning in the environment in which you're testing because by the time you get the plants back from orbit, they've changed. And so if you can't capture those images immediately or very soon while they're being challenged in the environmental space station, you lose, you loose those critical data and so you really The LMM can support five main areas of space biology with an orbit viewing of materials before gelling or freezing. Plant research, cell culture research, microorganism research, invertebrate research, vertebrate research, macromolecular biophysics. I am Anessa Biomedical Engineer and lead developer of our VestGen software.

5:51This fractal-based software maps and quantifies vascular remodeling for human, vertebrate and even invertebrate model systems. We're also associating the geometric dynamic dimensions of vascular remodelling and blood flow with essentially unlimited numbers of bioinformatic dimensions. These informatic dimensions of localized protein and other molecular expression are captured by Fluorescence Microscopy that is available to you now on the LMM for your space biology experiments with confocal capabilities planned in the near future. These approaches are illustrated in our VESGEN mapping analysis of vascular tissues in ISS model organisms that include the mouse GI and retina, fruit fly wings, vascular patterning

6:42in Arabidopsis leaves, and even the human retina for our research on astronaut ocular and vision A Neo-Demyumyag laser and faster digital cameras are manifested for 2016. This will enable 3D structures to be analyzed in more detail. The element for biology is a bit of a challenge. It's not designed for biology per se, and so a scientist, a biological scientist has to adapt their biology to be able to fit both operationally and physically into the unit. However, being able to view things in situ at this kind of level of resolution of the Microscopic level also with fluorescence is a huge advantage to much of the kind of biology that many of us do and it's certainly worth the effort. Space biology experiments scheduled to be flown and observed in the LMM over the next

8:10several months include APEX III or the Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit flying on SPX-F5 and 6. Generally there are 30 day docking periods that are available for space biology experiments The LMM can aid space biologists, physicists, chemists, engineers and graduate student researchers in achieving a better understanding of biological samples, colloids and other physical processes on the microscopic level. If you're planning a project that could benefit from in-flight observations in the Light Microscopy Module, there are several ways to proceed. You can use the CASES program, a NASA research announcement or contact your program executive at NASA Headquarters to get on the flight manifest.