[NASA] Spooky on the Space Station

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Science in Space: October 2024

Cultures around the world celebrate Halloween on Oct 31. In many places, in addition to people wearing costumes and eating candy, this day is associated with spooky decorating using fake blood, skeletons, flies, and spiders, some of them glow-in-the-dark.

Crew members on the

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have been known to indulge in a bit of dressing up and candy consumption to mark the day, and the research they conduct year-round occasionally involves these iconic Halloween themes. No tricks, just treats.

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JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Nicole Mann, and Josh Cassada dressed up for Halloween 2022.

NASA

A current investigation, Megakaryocytes Flying-One or

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, investigates how components of real blood known as megakaryocytes and platelets develop and function during spaceflight. Megakaryocytes are large cells found in bone marrow and platelets are pieces of these cells. Both play important roles in blood clotting and immune response. Results could improve understanding of changes in inflammation, immune responses, and clot formation in spaceflight and on the ground.

Creepy crawlies

Fake spiders and flies are popular Halloween decorations (and fodder for fun pranks). Several investigations on the space station have used real ones.

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used fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, to examine the cellular and genetic mechanisms that affect heart health during spaceflight. The flies

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several effects on cardiac function, including changes in muscle fibers, that could be a fundamental response of heart muscles to microgravity.

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looked at how spaceflight affects immune function and resulting changes to the nervous system of the same type of flies, along with the value of artificial gravity as a countermeasure. Researchers

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that artificial gravity provided some protection to physical changes to the central nervous system from spaceflight. Spiders, Fruit Flies and Directional Plant Growth (

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) compared the weaving characteristics of golden orb-web spiders on the space station and the ground. Under natural conditions, the spiders build asymmetric webs with the hub near the upper edge, where they wait for prey. In

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, most but not all webs were quite symmetric, although webs built when the lights were on were more asymmetric and the spiders waited facing away from the lights. This could mean that in the absence of gravity, the spiders orient to the direction of light.

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A golden-orb weaver and its web on the space station.

NASA

Bad to the bones

Everyone needs healthy bones and skeletons, and not just on Halloween. But spaceflight and aging on Earth can cause loss of bone mass. Space station research has looked at the mechanisms behind this loss as well as countermeasures such as exercise and nutrition.

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examined whether a medication that blocks the breakdown of bone, in conjunction with the routine in-flight exercise program, protected crew members from bone mineral density loss during spaceflight. The research

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that it did reduce loss, which in turn

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the occurrence of kidney stones in crew members.

Assessment of the Effect of Space Flight on Bone (

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) studied how spaceflight affects bone quality using a high-resolution bone scan technique. Researchers

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incomplete recovery of bone strength and density in the tibia (a bone in the lower leg), comparable to a decade or more of terrestrial age-related bone loss. The work also

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the relationship between length of a mission and bone loss and suggested that pre-flight markers could identify crew members at greatest risk.

In a merging of blood and bones, CSA’s

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looked at whether microgravity has a negative effect on bone marrow and the blood cells it produces. Decreased production of red blood cells can lead to a condition called space anemia. Findings

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to the expression of genes involved in red blood cell formation and

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related to bone marrow adipose or **** tissue, which stores energy and plays a role in immune function, could contribute to development of countermeasures. Marrow results also

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that the destruction of red blood cells (known as hemolysis) is a primary effect of spaceflight and contributes to anemia. Bad news for vampires.

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ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet storing Marrow samples in MELFI.

NASA

It glows in the dark

Fluorescence – a cool effect at a ghoulish party – also is a common tool in scientific research, enabling researchers to see physical and genetic changes. The space station has special microscopes for observing glow-in-the-dark samples.

For

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, an investigation from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), researchers genetically modified translucent Medaka fish with fluorescent proteins to help them observe cellular and genetic changes the fish experience during spaceflight. One analysis

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a decrease in the mineral density of bones in the throat and provided insights into the mechanisms behind these changes.

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A translucent Medaka fish with fluorescent proteins showing its bone structure.

Philipp Keller, Stelzer Group, EMBL

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, an investigation from ESA (********* Space Agency), examined how microgravity affects the interaction between rocks and microbes and

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little effect on microbial growth. This result suggests that microbial-supported bioproduction and life support systems can perform in reduced gravity such as that on Mars, which would be a perfect place for an epic Halloween celebration.

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Preflight fluorescence microscopy image of a biofilm for the Biorock experiment.

NASA

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