Your gateway to endless inspiration
Bacteria - Blog Posts
Cupid Bacteria anyone?
bacteria sooooooooo cute (google search emoji kitchen)
Why are bacteria resistant polymers being experimented, specifically in microgravity?
How long does each project take (approximately) . . . PS: you guys are so awesome >:D
What inspired you to attempt a SPOCS project?
Curious about how to send research to the International Space Station or how to get involved with NASA missions as a college student? Ask our experts!
Through our Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science, or SPOCS, we’re funding five college teams to build experiments for the International Space Station. The students are currently building their experiments focusing on bacteria resistance or sustainability research. Soon, these experiments will head to space on a SpaceX cargo launch! University of Idaho SPOCS team lead Hannah Johnson and NASA STEM on Station activity manager Becky Kamas will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Thurs., June 3, from 12-1 p.m. EDT here on our Tumblr! Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask. Hannah Johnson recently graduated from the University of Idaho with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She is the team lead for the university’s SPOCS team, Vandal Voyagers I, designing an experiment to test bacteria-resistant polymers in microgravity. Becky Kamas is the activity manager for STEM on Station at our Johnson Space Center in Houston. She helps connect students and educators to the International Space Station through a variety of opportunities, similar to the ones that sparked her interest in working for NASA when she was a high school student. Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science Fun Facts:
Our scientists and engineers work with SPOCS students as mentors, and mission managers from Nanoracks help them prepare their experiments for operation aboard the space station.
The Vandal Voyagers I team has nine student members, six of whom just graduated from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Designing the experiment served as a senior capstone project.
The experiment tests polymer coatings on an aluminum 6061 substrate used for handles on the space station. These handles are used every day by astronauts to move throughout the space station and to hold themselves in place with their feet while they work.
The University of Idaho’s SPOCS project website includes regular project updates showing the process they followed while designing and testing the experiment.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Get to Know the 5 College Teams Sending Their Experiments to Space!
Did you know that YOU (yes you!), can send science experiments to the International Space Station?
To celebrate 20 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station, NASA STEM on Station is sending five student experiments to the space station through Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science (SPOCS). Selected teams will also engage K-12 students as a part of their experiment through citizen-science.
Get to know the 5 college teams sending their experiments to space!
Arkansas State University
Team: A-State Science Support System
Experiment Title: Microgravity Environment Impact on Plastic Biodegradation by Galleria mellonella
Experiment Description: Discover the ability of wax worms to degrade plastics in space.
Why did you propose this experiment?
Our team’s passion for sustainability developed into novel ideas for space travel through biodegradation of plastics.
How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?
If our experiment is successful, it will “launch” us closer to understanding how to reduce humankind’s plastic footprint on Earth and allow us to safely push farther into unknown planetary habitats.
How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?
Unknown to each other before the project, our interdisciplinary team formed through virtual communication.
What science fiction character best represents your team and why?
The sandworms of Dune represent our team perfectly considering their importance in space travel, the natural ecological service they provide, and their sheer awesomeness
Columbia University
Team: Columbia Space Initiative
Experiment Title: Characterizing Antibiotic Resistance in Microgravity Environments (CARMEn)
Experiment Description: Discover the impact of mutations on bacteria in microgravity when grown into a biofilm with fungus.
Why did you propose this experiment?
As a highly interdisciplinary team united by our love of outer space, SPOCS was the perfect opportunity to fuse biology, engineering, and education into a meaningful team project.
How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?
Studying how different microorganisms interact with each other to develop bacterial resistance in space will help improve antibiotic treatments for future Artemis astronauts.
How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?
Most of our team actually hasn’t ever met in person—we’ve been videoconferencing weekly since May!
What science fiction character best represents your team and why?
Our team is definitely Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, because we strive to reach infinity (or at least the International Space Station) and beyond!
Stanford University
Team: Stanford Student Space Initiative
Experiment Title: Biopolymer Research for In-Situ Capabilities (BRIC)
Experiment Description: Determine how microgravity impacts the solidification of biobricks.
Why did you propose this experiment?
We have an ongoing project to design and build a machine that turns lunar or Martian soil into bricks, and we want to learn how reduced gravity will impact the process.
How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?
We are studying an environmentally-friendly concrete alternative that can be used to make structures on Earth and other planets out of on-site, readily available resources.
How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?
We transitioned our weekly meetings to an online format so that we could continue at our planned pace while maintaining our community.
What science fiction character best represents your team and why?
Like our beloved childhood friend WALL-E, we craftily make inhospitable environments suitable for life with local resources.
University of Idaho
Team: Vandal Voyagers I
Experiment Title: Bacteria Resistant Polymers in Microgravity
Experiment Description: Determine how microgravity impacts the efficacy of bacteria resistant polymers.
Why did you propose this experiment?
The recent emphasis on surface sterility got us thinking about ways to reduce the risk of disease transmission by surfaces on the International Space Station.
How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?
If successful, the application of proposed polymers can benefit humankind by reducing transmission through high contact surfaces on and off Earth such as hand rails and door handles.
How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?
We are allowed to work collaboratively in person given we follow the current university COVID guidelines.
What science fiction character best represents your team and why?
Mark Watney from The Martian because he is willing to troubleshoot and problem solve on his own while collaborating with NASA from afar.
University of New Hampshire at Manchester
Team: Team Cooke
Experiment Title: Novel Methods of Antibiotic Discovery in Space (NoMADS)
Experiment Description: Determine how microgravity impacts the amount of bacterium isolates that produce antibiotic metabolites.
Why did you propose this experiment?
To contribute to the limited body of knowledge regarding bacterial resistance and mutations in off-Earth conditions.
How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?
Understanding how bacteria in the human microbiome and on spacecraft surfaces change can ensure the safe and accurate treatment of bacterial infections in astronauts.
How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?
Our team continued to evolve our communication methods throughout the pandemic, utilizing frequent remote video conferencing, telecommunications, email, and in-person conferences.
What science fiction character best represents your team and why?
Professor Xavier, the founder of the X-Men, because he also works with mutants and feels that while they are often misunderstood, under the right circumstances they can greatly benefit the world.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Your Gut in Space
Finding the Right Balance for the Microbiota
Trillions of microorganisms live on and in the human body, many of them essential to its function and health. These organisms, collectively known as the microbiota, outnumber cells in the body by at least five times.
Microorganisms in the intestinal tract, the gut microbiota, play an especially important role in human health. An investigation on the International Space Station, Rodent Research-7 (RR-7), studies how the gut microbiota changes in response to spaceflight, and how that change in turn affects the immune system, metabolic system, and circadian or daily rhythms.
Research shows that the microbiota in the mammalian digestive tract has a major impact on an individual’s physiology and behavior. In humans, disruption of microbial communities has been linked to multiple health problems affecting intestinal, immune, mental and metabolic systems.
The investigation compares two different genetic strains of mice and two different durations of spaceflight. Twenty mice, ten of each strain, launch to the space station, and another 20 remain on the ground in identical conditions (except, of course, for the absence of gravity). Mice are a model organism that often serves as a scientific stand-in for other mammals and humans.
Fecal material collected from the mice every two weeks will be examined for changes in the gut microbiota. Researchers plan to analyze fecal and tissue samples after 30 and 90 days of flight to compare the effects of different durations of time in space.
With a better understanding of relationships between changes such as disruption in sleep and an imbalance of microbial populations, researchers can identify specific factors that contribute to changes in the microbiota. Further studies then can determine proactive measures and countermeasures to protect astronaut health during long-term missions.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Resupply Mission Brings Mealworms and Mustard Seeds to Space Station
Orbital ATK will launch its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station on November 11, 2017 from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. It will be packed with cargo and scientific experiments for the six humans currently living and working on the orbiting laboratory.
The cargo spacecraft is named the S.S. Gene Cernan after former NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan, who is the last man to have walked on the moon.
Here are some of the really neat science and research experiments that will be delivered to the station:
What’s Microgravity Got to do with Bacterial Antibiotics?
Antibiotic resistance could pose a danger to astronauts, especially since microgravity has been shown to weaken human immune response. E. coli AntiMicrobial Satellite (EcAMSat) will study microgravity’s effect on bacterial antibiotic resistance.
Results from this experiment could help us determine appropriate antibiotic dosages to protect astronaut health during long-duration human spaceflight and help us understand how antibiotic effectiveness may change as a function of stress on Earth.
Laser Beams…Not on Sharks…But on a CubeSat
Traditional laser communication systems use transmitters that are far too large for small spacecraft. The Optical Communication Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) tests the functionality of laser-based communications using CubeSats that provide a compact version of the technology.
Results from OCSD could lead to improved GPS and other satellite networks on Earth and a better understanding of laser communication between small satellites in low-Earth orbit.
This Hybrid Solar Antenna Could Make Space Communication Even Better
As space exploration increases, so will the need for improved power and communication technologies. The Integrated Solar Array and Reflectarray Antenna (ISARA), a hybrid power and communication solar antenna that can send and receive messages, tests the use of this technology in CubeSat-based environmental monitoring.
ISARA may provide a solution for sending and receiving information to and from faraway destinations, both on Earth and in space.
More Plants in Space!
Ready for a mouthful…The Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Microgravity via Rhizobium-Legume Symbiosis…aka the Biological Nitrogen Fixation experiment, will examine how low-gravity conditions affect the nitrogen fixation process of the Microclover legume (a plant in the pea family). Nitrogen fixation is a process where nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia. This crucial element of any ecosystem is also a natural fertilizer that is necessary for most types of plant growth.
This experiment could tell us about the space viability of the legume’s ability to use and recycle nutrients and give researchers a better understanding of this plant’s potential uses on Earth.
What Happens When Mealworms Live in Space?
Mealworms are high in nutrients and one of the most popular sources of alternative protein in developing countries. The Effects of Microgravity on the Life Cycle of Tenebrio Molitor (Tenebrio Molitor) investigation studies how the microgravity environment affects the mealworm life cycle.
In addition to alternative protein research, this investigation will provide information about animal growth under unique conditions.
Mustard Seeds in Microgravity
The Life Cycle of Arabidopsis thaliana in Microgravity experiment studies the formation and functionality of the Arabidopsis thaliana, a mustard plant with a genome that is fully mapped, in microgravity conditions.
The results from this investigation could contribute to an understanding of plant and crop growth in space.
Follow @ISS_Research on Twitter for more information about the science happening on space station.
Watch the launch live HERE on Nov. 11, liftoff is scheduled for 7:37 a.m. EDT!
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.