Most Groundbreaking Discoveries From Experiments Done In Space

 

astronauts have been completing  important scientific experiments in  space  from the moment they left orbit it's  been 20 years since the launch of the  international space station  and the research done aboard has been  vital in further understanding of the  cosmos  advancements in technology and  innovative breakthroughs in medicine  welcome to fact nominal today we're all  going mad scientists  in most groundbreaking discoveries from  experiments  done in space discovery of steadily  burning cool flames  can you have flames without the intense  heat during a flame extinguishing  experiment or  flex study there was a rather unexpected  result  a fuel droplet was technically  extinguished but still continue to burn  without producing a flame the heptane  droplet went out twice  first the flame and then again  afterwards it was the first recorded  instance of dual levels of combustion  and extinction  the experiment was originally performed  in space in order to remove gravity from  the equation  and push the boundaries of the laws and  principles governing how a flame behaves  turns out in space a cool flame can burn  for minutes with no observable ignition  a hot flame produces carbon soot carbon  dioxide and water as a byproduct  while a cool flame produces carbon  monoxide and formaldehyde  this development is important for future  emissions control to create less  polluting vehicles  exploring the fifth state of matter the  fifth state of matter  the bose-einstein condensate or bec  isn't news we first produced it 25 years  ago on earth  it's completely separate from solids  liquids gases and plasmas  the cold atom lab run by nasa became the  first to ever achieve the fifth state of  matter in the weightlessness of space  the only way to produce bec is to super  chill atoms  the facilities in space are able to  reach lower temps than their  counterparts on earth  the vacuum prevents the ultra cold atoms  from being pulled down by the earth's  gravity  allowing the bec to float increasing the  observation window  and creating more time to study them  bec's are an integral part of  understanding quantum physics  and what is usually happening at a  subatomic scale  is made visible in a much larger scale  the development of quantum technologies  is the future tissue chip tests  the tissue chip is a bizarre concept  there are thumb size devices that  contain living human cells  contained in a 3d matrix each type of  chip is meant to represent the function  of a specific organ in the body  lung kidney brain and intestine chips  have all been sent into space  to study the effects of experimental  drugs on both healthy  and unhealthy tissue microgravity better  simulates the aging process here on  earth  muscle loss reduction in bone density  and decreased function of visceral  tissue  all happens much faster in space tissue  chips in space give scientists a chance  to study changes  that may take months or even years to  occur on the earth's surface  over a matter of weeks or months in  space  the next wonder drug will very likely be  a direct result  of this research better water  purification  there are two things that are not  readily available in space  air and water the latter is an area of  constant refinement and improvement  aboard the iss  and currently the purification and  filtration systems are so good  that 93 of the water astronauts consume  in spaces  let's just say recycled in a sealed  environment it's important to reduce  waste wherever possible  and in this case turn waste into want  an efficiently running water purifier on  board reduces the frequency of water  resupply missions  to be sent up from the earth the real  world applications are huge  water is vital for humans to survive and  many places around the world are either  arid dry areas  or places that do not have access to  clean water  the water saving technology developed on  the iss  can help people in these regions growing  food in microgravity  the biggest thing holding back deep  space travel isn't rocket technology or  cryogenic sleep technology  but arguably the ability to grow enough  food to sustain humans for the journey  there and back  without fresh produce humans develop a  whole host of nutrient deficiency  diseases  astronauts have been growing space salad  up on the iss for years now  and to date eight different varieties of  leafy goodness have been grown  and feasted on by those on board each  crop is a chance to fine-tune the  protocol that allows for optimum growth  and as the little farm grows in size it  reduces the need for so many shuttle  resupply runs to replenish stock from  earth  it's entirely possible that the next  generation of spacecraft will have a  section solely dedicated to horticulture  and  producing plants for food while in space  development of 3d printing not many know  this but the first ever 3d printer was  sent up to the iss in 2014  it was cutting edge technology using  recycled plastic and precision equipment  to effectively build anything that could  be expressed as a cad file  if a tool was needed for a repair or  upgrade it was as easy as nasa sending  up the blueprint  the astronauts loading it into the  printer and voila  no need for an express delivery rocket  shot up into space  recent experiments have been using this  same recycled plastic  and a specialized bio printer to  recreate human tissue  the bio fabrication facility or bff is  making advancements in technology  that uses ultra fine layers of bio ink  to slowly build an organ from scratch  bit by bit this would reduce demand for  donor transplant organs  and also usher in the age of the  improved modified human  understanding pulsars and black holes  there are two very important tools found  on the iss  and nowhere else on earth the neutron  star interior composite explorer  or nicer developed by nasa and the  monitor of all sky  x-ray imager or maxi run by japan's  aerospace  exploration agency or jaxa in 2018  the maxi sensor array detected a new  source of x-rays coming from deep space  prompting astronauts to aim the nicer  array at the spot in order to classify  the anomaly  what they found was a binary system with  a black hole containing a mass  many times that of our own system sun it  turned out to be one of the strongest  x-ray sources ever detected  and has provided some much needed  insight into the evolution of such a  system  and how the inner edge of the disk  surrounding a black hole  and the corona above it consumes stellar  material  over time advancement of fluid physics  the earth is covered in water so it  makes sense that we attempt to  understand the forces working on a fluid  as a priority the rodent research 6  experiments tested nanofluidic devices  the size of a grain of rice  by implanting them under the skin of the  lab rats  this allows for a continuous and steady  delivery of drugs into the system  without the need for a control mechanism  like a digitized intravenous drip  the procedure uses capillary forces as  blood pumps through tiny vessels to move  the fluid  as opposed to a mechanical way the mice  were given experimental drugs that  reduce the rate of muscle wastage and  atrophy  usually associated from living in a zero  gravity environment  for an extended period this testing has  evolved into designing advanced medical  devices  and more efficient heat transfer systems  back on earth  protein crystal drug therapy it's all  about the proteins  they don't only build strong muscles but  they do nearly  every job in the human body from  controlling metabolic reactions  to being messengers and even maintaining  proper ph and fluid levels  and keeping them in a balanced  homeostasis protein crystals grown on  earth are negatively affected by gravity  causing the molecules to misalign as  they bend together in form  in space a slower and more accurate  growth cycle  creates higher quality crystals far  superior to any others  duchene muscular dystrophy or dmd is an  incurable genetic disorder  affecting 1 in 3 600 young boys the pc5  experiment successfully grew the  therapeutic antibody kittruda in a purer  form  leading to a treatment for dmd off the  back of this research  entering its first human trials from  here  the sky's the limit fundamental disease  research  a huge part of astronauts research is  the study of disease  human lives are shortened by diseases  that appear to have no cure  however the zero gravity environment of  space allows for alternative techniques  to be used in pharmaceutical research  this lack of gravity has enabled  scientists up in orbit  to better study the protein clusters  that cause  neurologically degenerative diseases  such as alzheimer's and parkinson's  likewise without gravity interfering  with the growth of endothelial  cells we've grown to understand how they  help supply blood in the body  this is useful for cancer research as  tumors need a supercharged blood supply  to keep up with their extremely fast  division and proliferation  learning how controlling endothelial  cells relates to cancer growth has  sparked interest  in alternative therapies the work of our  men and women up above  could potentially save tens of millions  of future lives