Scientific research on the International Space Station


The International Space Station is a platform for scientific research that requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit. The primary fields of research include human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology. The 2005 NASA Authorization Act designated the American segment of the International Space Station as a national laboratory with the goal of increasing the use of the ISS by other federal agencies and the private sector.
Research on the ISS improves knowledge about the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body. Subjects currently under study include muscle atrophy, bone loss, and fluid shift. The data will be used to determine whether space colonization and lengthy human spaceflight are feasible. As of 2006, data on bone loss and muscular atrophy suggest that there would be a significant risk of fractures and movement problems if astronauts landed on a planet after a lengthy interplanetary cruise. Large scale medical studies are conducted aboard the ISS via the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study in which astronauts perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts. The study considers the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in space. Usually, there is no physician on board the ISS, and diagnosis of medical conditions is a challenge. It is anticipated that remotely guided ultrasound scans will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations where access to a trained physician is difficult.
Researchers are investigating the effect of the station's near-weightless environment on the evolution, development, growth and internal processes of plants and animals. In response to some of this data, NASA wants to investigate microgravity's effects on the growth of three-dimensional, human-like tissues, and the unusual protein crystals that can be formed in space.
The investigation of the physics of fluids in microgravity will allow researchers to model the behaviour of fluids better. Because fluids can be almost completely combined in microgravity, physicists investigate fluids that do not mix well on Earth. In addition, an examination of reactions that are slowed by low gravity and temperatures will give scientists a deeper understanding of superconductivity.
The study of materials science is an important ISS research activity, with the objective of reaping economic benefits through the improvement of techniques used on the ground. Other areas of interest include the effect of the low gravity environment on combustion, through the study of the efficiency of burning and control of emissions and pollutants. These findings may improve our knowledge about energy production, and lead to economic and environmental benefits.
Remote sensing of the Earth, astronomy, and deep space research on the ISS have significantly increased during the 2010s after the completion of the US Orbital Segment in 2011. Throughout the more than 20 years of the ISS program researchers aboard the ISS and on the ground have examined aerosols, ozone, water vapor, and oxides in Earth's atmosphere, as well as the Sun, cosmic rays, cosmic dust, antimatter, and dark matter in the universe. Examples of Earth-viewing remote sensing experiments that have flown on the ISS are the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, ISS-RapidScat, HICO, ECOSTRESS, the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation, and the Cloud Aerosol Transport System. ISS-based astronomy telescopes and experiments include SOLAR, the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, the Calorimetric Electron Telescope, the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image, and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
Since 2018, an example of automated manufacturing on the ISS is the testing across nine launches of a system to manufacture artificial retinas benefitted by the weightless environment. Progress has resulted in a goal of beginning human trials of the material as early as 2027.

ISS science facilities

The ISS includes a number of modules devoted to scientific activity as well as other hardware designed for the same purpose.
Laboratory modules:
Scientific hardware not attached to any laboratory module:
  • Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer or AMS
  • Cupola
  • ExPRESS Logistics Carriers or ELC
  • External Stowage Platforms
  • Orbital Replacement Units SPARES
  • Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer

    ''Columbus''

Internal scientific hardware:
External scientific hardware:
Planned for launch:
  • Basic Express Rack 9B | BER-9B ExPRESS Rack with only cooling and electrical power, eight Mid Deck Locker payloads. Launched on HTV-6
  • Basic Express Rack 10B | BER-10B
  • Second Glove Box, MSG-2 or Live Science Glovebox LSG

    ''Kibo''

Internal scientific hardware:
  • Ryutai Experiment Rack
  • * Fluid Physics Experiment Facility
  • * Solution Crystallization Observation Facility
  • * Protein Crystallization Research Facility
  • * Image Processing Unit
  • Kobairo Rack :
  • * Gradient Heating Furnace
  • Saibo Experiment Rack
  • * Cell Biology Experiment Facility
  • * Clean Bench
  • Lab Support Equipments and other smaller instruments
  • * The Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for the International Space Station
  • * Biological Experiment Unit
  • * High Definition TeleVision transmitting system
  • * Passive Dosimeter for Life Science Experiments in Space
  • * Human Research Facility Holter Monitor
  • * Payload Laptop Terminal
  • * Microgravity Measurement Apparatus,
  • * Utility DC/DC Converter Unit
External scientific hardware:
  • Japanese Experiment Module - Exposed Facility

    ''Poisk''

  • Multipurpose workstation

    ISS small hardware

  • Actiwatch
  • BioServe Culture Apparatus
  • Biological Research in Canisters for OptiCells
  • Human Research Facility Continuous Blood Pressure Device
  • Hand Grip Dynamometer Pinch Force Dynamometer
  • Human Research Facility Holter Monitor
  • Kennedy Space Center Fixation Tube
  • Portable Clinical Blood Analyzer - i-STAT
  • Radiation Area Monitor
  • Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter
  • Urine Monitoring System
  • Vegetable Production System

    ISS sub-rack

  • Advanced Biological Research System
  • Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility
  • ARCTIC Refrigerator-Freezer
  • Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller
  • Biotechnology Temperature Refrigerator
  • Boiling Experiment Facility
  • Clean Bench
  • Cell Biology Experiment Facility
  • Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus
  • Commercial Plant Biotechnology Facility
  • Commercial Refrigerator Incubator Module - Modified
  • European Modular Cultivation System
  • Fluid Physics Experiment Facility
  • Flywheel Exercise Device
  • Image Processing Unit
  • Mice Drawer System Facility
  • Microgravity Vibration Isolation Subsystem
  • Portable Astroculture Chamber
  • Protein Crystal Growth - Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System
  • Protein Crystallization Research Facility
  • Pulmonary Function System
  • Portable Glovebox
  • Refrigerated Centrifuge
  • Solution Crystallization Observation Facility
  • Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device
  • Human Research Facility Ultrasound on the International Space Station

    ISS stowage

  • Autonomous Biological System
  • Advanced Space Experiment Processor
  • Astro Garden
  • Biological Research in Canisters
  • Cell Culturing
  • Group Activation Pack - Fluid Processing Apparatus
  • Granada Crystallization Facility

    ISS mid-deck locker

  • Avian Development Facility
  • Animal Enclosure Module
  • General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator
  • Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator
  • T-Cell Growth System
  • Polar

    ISS mid-deck locker insert

  • Biotube
  • Kennedy Space Center Gaseous Nitrogen Freezer

    JAXA's ISS research and science activity

Experiments

  • Chaos, Turbulence and its Transition Process in Marangoni Convection Marangoni Exp
  • Spatio-temporal Flow Structure in Marangoni Convection
  • Experimental Assessment of Dynamic Surface Deformation Effects in Transition to Oscillatory Thermo capillary Flow in Liquid Bridge of High Prandtl Number Fluid
  • Pattern Formation during Ice Crystal Growth
  • Investigation on Mechanism of Faceted Cellular Array Growth
  • Growth of Homogeneous SiGe Crystals in Microgravity by the TLZ Method
  • Gene expression of p53-regulated Genes in Mammalian Cultured Cells after Exposure to Space Environment
  • Detection of Changes in LOH Profile of TK mutants of Human Cultured Cells
  • Control of cell differentiation and morphogenesis of amphibian culture cells
  • Integrated Assessment of Long-term Cosmic Radiation Through Biological Responses of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori, in Space
  • RNA interference and protein phosphorylation in space environment using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
  • Cbl-Mediated Protein Ubiquitination Downregulates the Response of Skeletal Muscle Cells to Growth Factors in Space
  • Hydrotropism and Auxin-Inducible Gene Expression in Roots Grown under Microgravity Conditions
  • Biological effects of space radiation and microgravity on mammalian cells
  • Life Cycle of Higher Plants under Microgravity Conditions
  • Regulation by Gravity of Ferulate Formation in Cell Walls of Rice Seedlings