May, 4th 2019. Kennedy Space Center (FLA, USA)
The SpaceX CRS-17 mission with the Falcon 9 Block 5 carry new scientific experiments to the International Space Station with the Dragon capsule. The mission included BioScience-3, an experiment on the spaceflight effects on vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cell processes. The investigation aims to understand the molecular mechanisms behind vascular cell damage, like those associated with cardiovascular disease on earth, by exposing vascular cells to the microgravity environment onboard the ISS National Lab. The research team will assess changes in the transcriptomics of vascular cells in space, comparing flight samples with ground-based controls. The experiment is developed inside the The STaARS-1 incubator active on International Space Station (US-Lab) and has been used for the execution of various biological experiments. In this mission, the automatic cell culture in microgravity has been performed using the Kayser Italia bioreactors type KEU-RO. All experiments executed within STaARS-1 up to now have been controlled by Kayser Italia KAB Controller (follow the link for more information).