The Science of NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 Mission
After launching to the International Space Station on March 2, 2023, NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission is wrapping up its time in orbit, with a return to Earth in early September 2023. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev spent their months on the orbiting lab conducting scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, including running a student robotic challenge, studying plant genetic adaptations to space, and monitoring human health in microgravity to prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth. The astronauts also released Saskatchewan's first satellite, which tests a new radiation detection and protection system derived from melanin.
Transcript
00:00I don't think people realize is that this is a national laboratory.
00:12If you look around, you know, on the walls and every one of these bays, there's another
00:17experiment essentially or a systems rack that actually keeps the space station operating.
00:22This place is incredible.
00:24We've had astronauts living and working on the space station for over 22 years of continuance
00:29presence at this point, and it's really an honor to get to continue that tradition.
00:35Thank you very much for all your help this morning.
00:37Thank you for all your help today, and I'm excited to learn more about what we're printing
00:42here and see how it goes.
00:46For the last two months, I've been working on a lot of experiments, and I recall working
00:51on heart tissues.
00:52I saw some heart tissues beating in space, and it was incredible.
00:56These tissues are receiving medication on board the station, and this can help us develop
01:01some medication for heart diseases on Earth.
01:05So Tom, we see that top one beating.
01:08Yeah, it looks like happy heart cells.
01:12Every day is truly unique and different.
01:15We could be doing anything from spending all day in a glove box working on science experiments
01:20to doing science on ourselves.
01:22And this is not a fashion statement.
01:23This is actually part of the science we do up here.
01:26I actually have a whole suit with a suite of tools that are measuring part of my biometrics.
01:33So we are our own experiments as well.
01:36This is actually a cylindrically shaped airlock that we have the capability to put small payloads
01:42inside of and send them out to space.
01:44So this is our launcher that deploys these small satellites.
01:47There's a spring in the back, and that provides the force to launch the satellites.
01:53The space shuttle is the first space shuttle to go into orbit.
01:58It is the first space shuttle to go into orbit.
02:01I think humanity has an innate desire to explore.
02:06This is one big part of our constant exploration as humanity.
02:23NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology