By Zhang Tian (China Astronaut Research and Training Center)
Article from Science Academy Public (ID: kexuedayuan)
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For the longest time, there have been thousands of satellites in space, but there is only one space station, the International Space Station. It is operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Russian State Space Corporation (Roscosmos), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)**** together. In 20 years of operation, the ISS has hosted 239 intrepid explorers and performed more than 2,700 scientific experiments.
For some reason, the ISS has been less welcoming to China, which has become one of the world's leading spacefaring nations.
However, this situation will soon be broken!
According to planning, China will launch the space station core module in 2020. This is China's manned spaceflight project "three-step" strategy of the third step - the space station mission stage, that is, the construction of the space station in space with the international advanced level, to solve the problem of large-scale, long-term care of space applications, planned for 2022, the space station is expected to be launched this year, the space station is expected to be completed before and after the launch. It is scheduled to be built around 2022, and its core module is expected to be launched this year.
Although they do not take us to play, but it does not mean that we can not learn from their advanced experience ah, then why not let us follow the eyes of the camera to see what pioneering research has been carried out in the International Space Station in 2019!
"O man, know thyself"
"O man, know thyself" is a famous quote engraved on the Greek temple of Apollo. Knowing oneself is not only a philosophical question in one's life, but also the main focus of scientific research on the International Space Station. Here, many life science discoveries are being made, especially in relation to certain diseases, the results of which will benefit thousands of people on Earth.
Want an organ? The printed kind!
NASA astronaut Christina Koch launched the Biomanufacturing Facility (BFF). Scientists and medical doctors have long dreamed of using 3D bioprinters to create human organs. But it has proven very difficult to print the tiny, complex structures inside human organs under Earth's gravity. Instead, BFF can explore whether human organs can be made by 3D printing in the microgravity of space.
Does the risk of Alzheimer's disease increase on long flights
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano holds a small blue-capped jar containing amyloid aggregates. Amyloid fibrils are proteins that can aggregate in the body and have been linked to a number of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. These types of neurodegenerative diseases are a potential risk for astronauts traveling long distances. This study is assessing whether microgravity affects the formation of these fibers.
Exploring New Cancer Treatments
NASA Flight Engineer Christina Koch is using a microscope to observe and photograph samples of growing protein crystals. The microgravity crystal study crystallized a membrane protein that is essential to the process of tumor growth and cancer survival. Targeting this protein, the findings may help develop more effective cancer therapies with fewer side effects.
Sense of time, becoming unreliable?
Does it feel like time flies or like years in space? Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut David Saint Jacques conducted a research experiment on time perception in microgravity. Wearing monitors, the astronauts were shown blue squares, and then they had to say how long the squares had been displayed, as a way to measure and analyze subjective changes in human perception of time after prolonged exposure to microgravity.
The preliminary results of the experiment suggest that time passes more quickly for people in space, which should be good news, as it seems that the long days of space travel ahead could be a little more bearable.
Red and white blood cells
NASA astronaut Anne McClain holds biomedical equipment used in a bone marrow experiment. This study measured changes in fat in the bone marrow before and after the effects of microgravity, and also measured specific changes in red blood cell and white blood cell function.
How to Eat More Vegetables in Space
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir watered cultures of wild mustard greens aboard the space station and ate them after harvest. The study focused on the effects of light quality and fertilizer on the leafy crop.
In space, microgravity may retard plant growth. In the absence of gravity, plant transpiration is compromised, and water vapor that would have been dissipated into the atmosphere through the leaves remains attached to the leaves for longer, while transpiration lowers the temperature of the plant body and is the main driver of water uptake and transport in plants. In addition, the concentration of carbon dioxide in spacecraft plant cultures is much higher than on Earth, and plants grown in high carbon dioxide environments lose their nutritional value; they contain less zinc, iron and vitamins. The combination of multiple factors decreases the yield and nutrition of the plants . Therefore, how to grow green plants in space safely, efficiently and at a reasonable cost to form a fresh food supply system is the top priority of space research.
Building Better Bones in Space
NASA astronaut Nick Hague operates the Life Sciences Glovebox (LSG, the Life Sciences Glovebox) in the Kibo Experiment Module in Japan. He is performing science operations for the Bone Healing and Tissue Regeneration Experiment. This research could lead to a better understanding of the factors that influence tissue regeneration and help combat the loss of bone density that astronauts endure in space.
Feeling the Rhythm
NASA astronaut Anne McClain is shown floating in the foyer between Harmony and Destiny. The NASA astronaut Anne McClain is shown floating in the foyer between Harmony and the Destiny experimental module. She wears a sensor on her forehead that is collecting data from the circadian rhythm experiment, which examines how astronauts' "biological clocks" change during long-duration space flights.
"To do a good job, you have to make good use of your tools."
Using tools is not the fundamental difference between humans and animals; creating tools is. How to make our tools more competent, the materials used to make them more suitable, and the methods of operation more advanced is the relentless pursuit of people. The microgravity environment of the International Space Station has brought new research perspectives and experimental methods to researchers, and has become a practice ground for testing cutting-edge technologies.
"Cryogenic Cold Chain Transportation"
NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan load biological research samples onto the Destiny spacecraft in the United States. "Destiny laboratory module. Although the exact cost was not disclosed, there is no doubt that this must be the most expensive refrigerator in the world. Storing scientific samples in refrigeration equipment such as the ISS Experiment Cryogenic Refrigerator (GLACIER) is critical to preserving the scientific data generated in space so that it can be returned to Earth for researchers to analyze.
Testing Material Lifetimes
NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Anne McClain first installed the Materials Experimentation Flight Facility on the ISS (MISSE-FLF) in the airlock chamber of the Japanese Kibo experiment module. "(MISSE-FF, Materials ISS Experiment-Flight Facility) and then depressurized the device.MISSE-FF carried new materials exposure experiments to be conducted outside the Kibo module. "The Materials ISS Experiment-Flight Facility (MISSE) mission, an ISS experiment mission created specifically for materials irradiation experiments and launched in 2001, validates the lifetime of materials used in spacecraft development. This research will help scientists understand how radiation, the vacuum of space, and micrometeoroid impacts affect materials.
Mining with microbes?
European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano installs a biomining reactor in the Kubik Incubator (KUBIK) as part of the BioRock research. Biomining, already common on Earth, is the use of the power of microorganisms to extract useful minerals and metals from solid rock. The BioRock study is the first to examine how microbes grow and alter planetary rocks in microgravity and conditions that mimic the gravity of Mars.
Safe Combustion Experiments
One of the tasks of the ISS crew is to operate and maintain the science hardware. In the photo above, NASA astronaut Jessica Meier is working on the Combustible Integrated Rack (CIR), a device that allows combustion experiments to be conducted in microgravity.The CIR, along with facilities such as the Microgravity Science Glovebox, creates a robust and safe environment in which astronauts can conduct combustion research without being in danger.
This particular flame is one of many that have been ignited in "flame design" studies inside the CIR, looking at the amount of soot produced under different conditions. The yellow spots are soot clusters that glow yellow when hot. These clusters are larger in microgravity than on Earth because the soot stays in the flame longer.
Every Cell Struggles to Adapt to Space
NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, using the Multi-use Variable-gravity Platform (MVP, the Multi-use Variable-g Platform) to conduct research aboard the space station, wanted to Understanding how organisms adapt to the space environment is an important part of future space exploration. The platform can study a wide variety of small organisms, including fruit flies, flatworms, plants, fish, cells, protein crystals, and more.
Busy Bee
CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques works with Astrobee, a small, free-flying cube called Bumble, on the space shuttle. Astrobee, a small, free-flying robot called Bumble, is working on the station, which consists of three separate free-flying robots (Bumble, Honey and Queen) and a docking station. Since GPS doesn't work well in space, Astrobees rely on a camera-based positioning system, which is powered by a fan and can move freely in any direction.
The Essential Spacewalk
NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, waving during his first spacewalk to fix the Cosmic Particle Detector, appears to be standing between the Alpha Electromagnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) and the rest of the station's hardware.The AMS provides data to AMS provides hundreds of researchers around the world with data that can help them figure out mysteries such as "what the universe is made of" and "how the universe began. Because of its exposure to the harsh environment of space, AMS needs to be upgraded to continue collecting data.
"Little brother, set it up!"
Perfect timing for photography
Students participating in the Sally Ride EarthKAM program will catch a ride on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) HTV-8 cargo spacecraft, the perfect time to deliver science and materials to the space station. and supplies to the space station. "Sally Ride EarthKAM, an educational program created by Sally Ride, the first woman in space in the United States, is programmed remotely by high school students and allows them to photograph and analyze our planet from the perspective of the space station. Students can control a special digital camera on the station to take pictures of Earth's mountains, rivers, and other interesting geographic locations and features. The beautiful work pictured above is from the Sally Ride EarthKAM program.
All you do is play with Legos? Weak!
The two soccer-ball-sized, Lego-like robots in the picture are not simple, and their full name is the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellite (SPHERES-Synchronized). Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, NASA Flight Engineer Astronaut Alexander Skvortsov and Astronaut Andrew Morgan are floating around with this spherical robot. SPHERES floating in the space station with them to test small spacecraft technology. The astronauts are running code from participants in SPHERES' "Zero Robotics" 2019 middle school summer program. The program tests student-developed algorithms and selects the best designs from a competition to operate robots on the space station.
Keep in touch when you're in space!
NASA astronaut Nick Hague is floating in the Columbus experiment module from Europe during an ISS amateur radio conference, using the ISS call sign " NA1SS". The ISS Ham radio program gives students the opportunity to talk directly to astronauts in orbit via radio.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the many scientific studies currently being conducted on the ISS laboratory. From growing leafy greens in microgravity, to analyzing mining microbes, to testing autonomous robots, these studies will both benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for future human space exploration.
On January 8, 2020, the China Manned Space Engineering Office announced that China's space station system has completed the production of test prototypes and is now carrying out assembly and integration tests. The overall name of China's manned space station "Tiangong", the names of the modules and cargo spacecraft are as follows: the core module named "Tianhe", code name "TH"; experimental module Ⅰ named "Ask the sky". Ask the sky", code name "WT"; experimental module Ⅱ named "patrol the sky", code name "XT"; cargo spacecraft named "Tianzhou". Cargo spacecraft named "Tianzhou", code name "TZ".
Tiangong, Tianhe, ask the sky, patrol the sky, Tianzhou, just look at these names, let a person's blood boiling.
One day, in China's own space station, Chinese scientists will be able to carry out a wealth of scientific research, and with the unique power of the space environment, they will be able to benefit humanity through their wisdom and efforts. Let's *** look forward to that day!
Reference:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/2019-space-station-research-in-pictures
Source: Science Compound