space research

ISS Research Program

NASA’s Physical Sciences Research Program at the International Space Station (ISS) has conducted striking fundamental and applied research leading to improved space systems and new, advantageous products on Earth.

International Space Station Environments, Power and Research

NASA’s experiments in the various disciplines of physical science, reveal how physical systems respond to the near absence of gravity. They also reveal how other forces that on Earth are small compared to gravity, can dominate system behavior in space. The International Space Station (ISS) is an orbiting laboratory that provides an ideal facility to conduct long-duration experiments in the near absence of gravity and allows continuous and interactive research similar to Earth-based laboratories. This enables scientists to pursue innovations and discoveries not currently achievable by other means. NASA’s Physical Sciences Research Program also benefits from collaborations with several of the ISS international partners—Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada—and foreign governments with space programs, such as France, Germany and Italy. The scale of this research enterprise promises new possibilities in the physical sciences, some of which are already being realized both in the form of innovations for space exploration and in new ways to improve the quality of life on Earth. Test

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About research in space

Gravity affects everything we do on Earth but we know surprisingly little about how it works and how it affects life. Until recently scientists had no way of experimenting without gravity to understand what life would be like without it.

Orbiting our planet in an extended free-fall, astronauts on the International Space Station live in microgravity. Through the astronauts up there, scientists are conducting pioneering investigations, testing theories, and pushing the boundaries of our knowledge.

Research in space improves our life on Earth. Space research brings knowledge, discoveries, improvements to our daily life and – one day – the daily lives of explorers of our solar system.

Exploring nature

The studies of life and physical sciences in space are well established fields that complement terrestrial research programmes.

Biology, physiology, fluid physics and combustion, material sciences, fundamental physics and  astrobiology are all studied in space, observing how gravity affects basic phenomena on Earth and expanding our knowledge of the world around us.

Improving health

Space offers unique possibilities to study health problems related to diseases, ageing and immobility.

Research focuses on osteoporosis, muscle atrophy and nutrition, and tries to understand the effects of physiological adaptations for health and safety and ways to counteract unwanted changes in the human body. Spaceflight is a driving force behind developing advanced medical instruments for monitoring and diagnostics.

Innovating technologies

Studies in weightlessness can reveal properties that are important for energy production or environmental protection. Space research has already increased knowledge on combustion, liquids in porous substances and how dust particles behave.

These studies are expected to lead to low-pollution high-efficiency combustion for power plants, aircraft and cars, as well as  improved crude oil-recovery and innovative air and water purification techniques. Increased knowledge of life-support technology used in spaceflight  will make our diets safer.

Caring for the environment

These studies are expected to lead to low-pollution high-efficiency combustion in for power plants, aircraft and cars as well as improved crude oil-recovery and innovative air and water purification techniques. Increased knowledge of life-support technology used in spaceflight will make our diets safer.

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The Nine Planets

What are the benefits of Space Research?

• What are the benefits of space research?
• Why do governments spend billions of taxpayers money on exploring the solar system and beyond?
• Aren’t there better things to spend money on?
• Shouldn’t our top scientists and engineers be doing better things?

Many people would say so. Certainly, there is a lot of hunger in the world. The money that has been spent on the Hubble Space Telescope, for instance, would certainly have made a big difference if it were spent instead on relieving poverty in a third world country.

Nevertheless, apart from extending our knowledge of what is out there-there are a number of significant benefits of space research. Here are a few (not necessarily in order of importance).

• Medical Research – many of the experiments that were done in the shuttle and other space stations have led to the development of new drugs and surgical techniques.
• Materials Technology – some of the new materials that have been developed have proved enormously useful in other fields, e.g. the super heat resistant tiles used on the space shuttle.
• Electronics – Because of the limited space inside a spacecraft, there has always been the desire to make electronic components smaller and smaller. This has led to the development of semiconductors and integrated circuits.
• Telecommunications – Satellite television, GPS and other communications across the globe would not have been possible were it not for space research.
• Environmental studies – From space, we can observe the Earth. We can study the surface of the Earth and its atmosphere. This can help us to understand and protect the Earth and its ecosystems.

Although the benefits above it is important that scientific research should not always be with profit in mind. Some research should be just for the sake of extending our knowledge if commercial benefits result from this then so be it. Astronomy is the oldest science. Since mankind could think it gazed up at the stars and wondered what is out there. It may be, in the distant future, that space travel will ultimately save mankind. We will journey out to find new worlds to colonise.

We will go boldly where no man has gone before.

Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration

University of Cincinnati Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration aims to use the knowledge and competencies of our faculty, students, and partners to continue Ohio's extensive legacy of contributions to aviation and spaceflight.

In 2007, UC was the recipient of a substantial monetary gift with the intent to create a space exploration research effort as well as the establishment of two endowed chairs, the Thomas Jefferson Endowed Chair for Discovery and the Alan B. Shepard Endowed Chair for Exploration. Each of these chairs will further develop the intent of exploration and discovery through their own innovative research. In addition, this gift continues to inspire the next generation of scientist and engineers across multiple disciplines.

UC was also the academic setting for Neil Armstrong after he left NASA. As professor of aerospace engineering, he inspired the next generation of aerospace engineers.

Meet the Director

Professor Charles Doarn serves as the director of the institute. Professor Doarn holds degrees from The Ohio State University and the University of Dayton. His faculty appointment is a Research Professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences within the College of Medicine. He spent 33 years with NASA as a program executive in the field of aerospace medicine and remote health care as it related to human spaceflight. His full CV can viewed  here .

Director’s Message –

I am delighted to support the UC Office of Research in this new endeavor. Most of my career has been at the intersection of medicine, public health, engineering and program management. While I remain fully engaged in medicine and public health with ties to NASA, it is my program management skills that I will apply to this new institute in helping shape the University of Cincinnati’s efforts in aerospace through mutually-beneficial partnerships with NASA’s aerospace engineering activities, the United States Air Force at Wright Patterson, industry partners, academia, and the State of Ohio in expanding our boundaries in education and discovery. Each new graduate of our engineering and applied sciences program as well as other disciplines within our vibrant urban campus will be better prepared as a result of their involvement with our faculty, collaborators, and this institute. Feel free to contact me by phone at (513) 558- 6148 or by email at [email protected]

Faculty Chairs

Tomasz Stepinski PhD

Beginning in 2010, Tomasz F. Stepinski, PhD established the Space Informatics Lab (SIL) in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geography. SIL’s mission is to develop intelligent algorithms and online tools for fast and intuitive exploration of large spatial datasets that originated from remotely sensed planetary data, including Earth data. Such tools give the scientific community and the public the ability to get insights from the entirety of the data, not just from individual images. Examples include automated mapping of craters and valley networks (dry river networks) on Mars, automated generation of mineral maps from hyperspectral images of Mars, and a tool that performs Earth-wide search for sites with landscapes and climates similar to a user-provided query. Stepinski has a PhD in Applied Mathematics and MS in Astrophysics. Before arriving at UC he worked at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. At UC he currently teaches a freshman-level course - “Exploring the Solar System” to introduce undergraduates to the topic of space exploration.

Click here to see contact information and publications

Ou Ma received his PhD degree from McGill University in 1991. He is currently serving as the Alan B Shepard Chair and Professor at University of Cincinnati (UC). His research interests are dynamics and control for aerospace robotics and autonomous systems. Dr. Ma is currently directing the Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Systems (IRAS) Lab at UC, whose research portfolio includes multi-robot teaming as distributed systems, human-robot interaction and collaboration, satellite on-orbit services, and intelligent robotics for smart manufacturing. Prior to joining UC, Dr. Ma worked as an associate professor (2002-2008), professor (2008-2012), and Nakayama chair professor (2012-2017) at the New Mexico State University. From 1991 to 2002, Dr. Ma worked as an R&D lead and project engineer for MDA Robotics and Automation (then called Spar Aerospace or MDA Space Missions), participated in the operational support of the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (also called Canadarm), and the development of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS or Canadarm2) and Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM or Dextre) for the International Space Station, leading the efforts of dynamics modeling and simulation-based verification and validation of these two space robots. Dr. Ma has also participated in the development of the European Proximity Operation Simulator (EPOS) for the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the development of the robotic arm for DARPA’s Orbital Express mission.

Advisory Board

The Institute is guided by a diverse group of subject matter experts internal and external to UC. These individuals, listed below bring interdisciplinary prowess to Institute, providing strategic advise as it grows in stature and capability. From time to time, individuals will join the Board.

Amit Bhattacharya, PhD

Professor Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences UC College of Medicine

Dr. Bhattacharya holds a PhD degree in biomedical engineering and a MS in fluid mechanics/heat transfer, from the University of Kentucky. He is a Professor of Environmental Health, Biomedical Engineering & Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He is the founding Director of the EDDI Lab – E arly D etection of D egenerative D isorders & I nnovative Solutions . Dr. Bhattacharya has made significant contributions in a variety of research domains: wearable and ingestible sensors for real-time assessment/prediction of hyperthermia among first responders during live firefighting incidents, genetic susceptibility impact on postural stability and gait functions of naval aviators, therapeutic aspects of cardio-synched whole body vibration, as a countermeasure for cardiovascular deconditioning resulting from weightlessness, and the development of noninvasive, techniques for the quantification of postural imbalance as an indicator of neurotoxicity and identification of preclinical biomechanical markers of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. His research, in the area of noninvasive quantification of postural balance for use in early detection of chemical toxicity, received national recognition when he was invited by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to present a “hand on” demonstration of this technique at the National Medical Research Day. Dr. Bhattacharya is frequently invited to serve as ad hoc member on a variety of scientific review panels organized by U.S. National Academies of Sciences & Engineering, National Institute of Health (NIH), NIOSH, CDC, DOD and international organizations. He is a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society & Senior member of the National Academy of Inventors.

John A. Benek, PhD

Senior Scientist Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Directorate Wright Patterson Air Force Base

John A. Benek has over 50 years of leadership experience in the research, development, and application of advanced wind tunnel testing methods, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and the integration of wind tunnel testing and advanced fluid dynamics modeling and simulation methods. He is currently the senior scientist for aeronautics in the Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Directorate at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Prior to his current position, John has 30 years of experience at the Air Force, Arnold Engineering and Development Center where became the Manager of the Computational Fluid Dynamics Department, Microcraft, Inc./AEDC Operations. He also has served as the Manager of high-Performance Computing, Test and Evaluation Support, Raytheon/Army Research Lavatory. John earned his B.S. degree from the University of Cincinnati and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee. He has been active in professional societies serving as the Chairman of the University of Tennessee Space Institute Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honorary Society, Chairman of the Tennessee Section of the AIAA, Chairman of the AIAA Atmospheric Fluid Mechanics and of the Applied Aerodynamics Technical Committees. John is a Fellow of the AIAA; he received the AIAA Tennessee Arnold Award, and the AIAA Aerodynamics Award. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Cincinnati and a member of the university Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.

Elaine Bryant

Managing Director, Military and Federal Sector JobsOhio Dayton, Ohio

Ms. Bryant is the Dayton Development Coalition's Executive Vice President for Aerospace and Defense. She is also the Managing Director of the Federal and Military sector for JobsOhio. Elaine has over two decades of experience in the U.S. Air Force. She holds a BS in Engineering from The Air Force Academy and a master’s in Aerospace from the University of Maryland. Her first assignment was as an F-16 maintenance officer at Hill AFB, UT. She was later stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to serve in the Air Vehicles directorate of AFRL, followed by positions at HQ AFMC as Executive Officer to the Chief of Staff, and Aide-de-Camp to the Air Force Material Command Commander. Elaine then served as an Assistant Professor for Aeronautics at the Air Force Academy, and then Commander of Cadet Squadron 24. She later held program management and engineering leadership positions at the F-35 JPO and SAF/AQR in Washington, D.C.

Elaine returned to WPAFB to serve as Commander of the Foreign Material Exploitation Squadron at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. Her final Air Force assignment was Deputy Chief of the Human Systems Program Office.

In her current role, Elaine’s focus is preserving, protecting and expanding missions at federal and military installations in the Dayton region and across the state of Ohio.

During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, she was hand-picked to serve as a loaned executive to Governor DeWine’s staff to establish PPE acquisition practices and execute the purchase of PPE for the state.

Kelly Cohen, PhD

Professor Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics UC College of Engineering and Applied Science

Dr. Cohen is the Interim Department Head (since 2017) and the Brian H. Rowe Endowed Chair at the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Cincinnati. He's an Associate Fellow of the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics), past Chair of AIAA’s Intelligent Systems Technical Committee and Senior Member, IEEE. Dr. Cohen received all of his three degrees from the faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the Technion, Israel. Prior to joining UC in 2007, he has 22 years of experience in military R&D organizations working on UAVs and Air Mobility systems and technologies. Furthermore, his main expertise lies in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI), intelligent systems, UAVs systems and operations. He has utilized genetic fuzzy logic-based AI algorithms for decision-making in aerospace and bio-medical applications. Since 2010, he has graduated 10 PhD students and 26 MS students and secured around $6.0M in research funding at UC. During the past 7 years, he has secured grants from NSF, NIH, USAF, DHS, OFRN and NASA to develop algorithms for UAV applications as well as AI for bio-medical applications. He has over 115 per reviewed archival publications including 20 book chapters, and another 340 conference papers/presentations, and invited seminars. Dr. Cohen's current research team includes 6 full time staff, 8 PhD, 7 MS and numerous undergraduate students. Additionally, he serves on the Editorial Boards of three international journal publications, namely, Unmanned Systems, the International Journal of Unmanned Systems Engineering (IJUSEng)and Automation.

Richard J. Harknett, PhD

Professor and Chair Department of Political Science UC College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Harknett is Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science and Chair of the Center for Cyber Strategy and Policy at the University of Cincinnati. He co-directs the Ohio Cyber Range Institute, a state-wide organization supporting education, workforce, economic, and research development in cybersecurity. He served as Scholar-in-Residence at US Cyber Command and National Security Agency in 2016-17, where he contributed to the core development of the doctrine of cyber persistent engagement and several US strategy documents. He served as a Red Team member of the US Congressional Cyber Solarium Commission. He briefs on Capitol Hill and other US government agencies and has presented both policy briefings and academic research in 11 countries. Professor Harknett provides public engagement having made over 100 media appearances. He has held two Fulbright Scholar appointments: in 2017 in Cyber Studies at Oxford University, United Kingdom and in 2001 in International Relations at the Diplomatic Academy, Vienna, Austria, where he holds a professorial lecturer appointment. He has authored over 60 publications in international relations theory, international security, and cyber security studies with over $19 million in grant support. Aside his two Fulbright awards, Professor Harknett has been honored to receive numerous recognitions, including at the University of Cincinnati, the Provost Career Award, Office of Research Faculty Award for Excellence, the University Award for Exemplary Service, and the Edith Alexander Award for Teaching Excellence as well as the State of Ohio Faculty Innovator Award. He is an avid Liverpool Football Club supporter.

Ashley Kubley, MFA

Associate Professor of Fashion Design Associate Director of the Myron E. Ullman Jr. School of Design Head of the Evelyn G. Burgoyne Textiles Innovation Laboratory UC School of Design Architecture Art and Planning

Ms. Kubley serves as the Associate Director of the Myron E. Ullman Jr. School of Design. She has over 17 years of experience in fiber and textile science and textile design, including apparel production, product development, and entrepreneurship. Currently serving as an Associate Professor of Fashion Design and Head of the Evelyn G. Burgoyne Textiles Innovation Laboratory, Kubley has worked in fashion design education as a researcher in the area of textiles and innovation for over a decade with a particular concentration on smart materials and materials innovation. Most recently Kubley has collaborated with the University of Cincinnati engineering program to implement Carbon Nanotube fabric into wearables since 2017. Kubley has been awarded funding to pursue this research and further her findings through the integration of Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Active Textile Systems in Personal Protective Equipment for the Ohio Fire Service with a team of scientists across the University of Cincinnati's Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, and Design.

Tamara Lorenz, PhD

Associate Professor Mechanical and Electrical Engineering UC College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Dr. Tamara Lorenz is an Associate Professor holding a joint appointment in Psychology, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. She has a background in systemic neuroscience, cognitive psychology, mechanical engineering, and human factors/ergonomics (MSc Mechanical Engineering, TUM 2008, PhD Systemic Neuroscience, LMU 2015, both Munich, Germany). Dr. Lorenz’s research focusses on non-verbal, behavior-based, intuitive human-machine interaction (HMI) with novel technologies, particularly robots (HRI), artificial intelligence (AI), and Virtual Reality. To understand the requirements for HMI, she also studies and models human-human interaction, multi-robot interaction, and human/machine embodiment. Her approach is to collect multisensory behavioral data and use complex dynamical systems theory and machine learning to analyze, understand, model, and compare human and machine behavior on the individual and interactive level over time. Dr. Lorenz’s research takes a holistic transdisciplinary approach that ranges from basic to applied research, with major applications in the healthcare and manufacturing industry – and first steps towards space exploration. Besides research, her goal is to connect compassionate leadership and organizational efficiency with interdisciplinary communication, translation, and integration fostering novel insight, application, and education. At UC she teaches Human Factors and Human Performance at the undergraduate level, and a psychology/engineering cross-listed class on Human-Robot Interaction at the graduate level. Dr. Lorenz currently serves as the director for the Center for Cognition, Action, and Perception (CAP) and is a member of the leadership team for the UC Industry 5.0 Institute. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Institute for Research in Sensing (IRiS) for which she was an inaugural leadership team member.

Professor Alan B. Shepard Endowed Chair for Exploration Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics UC College of Engineering and Applied Science

Ou Ma received a BS from Zhejiang University and an MS and PhD degree from McGill University in mechanical engineering and robotics. He is now the Alan B Shepard Chair Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Cincinnati (UC), and directing the UC Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory (IRAS Lab). His research interests are space robotics and automation, intelligent robotics, autonomous systems including UAVs and UGVs, human-robot interaction and collaboration, and smart manufacturing. Dr. Ma has led numerous research projects sponsored by NSF, NASA, AFOSR/AFRL, ARO, and industry in the past two decades. From 2002 to 2017, Dr. Ma worked for the New Mexico State University where he held the title of John Nakayama Professor in Research Excellence and directed the Reduced Gravity and Biomechanics Laboratory and the UAV and Mechatronics Lab. Prior to that, Dr. Ma worked for MDA in Canada from 1991 to 2002, as a senior control engineer and R&D lead, leading the efforts of contact-dynamics and system dynamics modeling, simulation, and experimental verification of the two well-known space robots SSRMS (Canadarm2) and SPDM (DEXTUE) for the International Space Station program. He also participated in the design and development efforts of the DARPA’s Orbital Express robotic mission, the Canadian Space Agency’s SPDM Task Verification Facility (STVF) and the German Aerospace Center’s European Proximity Operation Simulator (EPOS). Dr. Ma has published over 200 research papers in major robotics and aerospace journals and conferences proceedings and held several patents. He has served as an associate editor for many journals and conferences in the robotics field and is still serving the editorial boards of Frontier in Robotics and AI, Drones, and ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control.

Scott Petersen, MS, MA, MBA

Executive Director Digital Futures – Cyber Development UC Office of Research

COL (USA, RET) Scott Petersen is an Executive Director of the Digital Futures initiative at the University of Cincinnati (UC), focused on Cyber, Unmanned Systems, & Artificial Intelligence R&D, as well as broad outreach with the Department of Defense. He transitioned to UC after a 30-year career as an Army Engineer Officer; with most recent position as Chief of the Strategy and Policy Division of the Army HQ Cyber, Electronic Warfare, and Information Operations Directorate. He has commanded Engineer units at company, battalion, and brigade levels—at home and in combat. He oversaw all engineer operations and a $4Billion+ construction program across the US Central Command area of responsibility; served as XO to the Chief of Engineers; graduated from and taught leadership at the US Military Academy; and served with US Special Forces. He holds 3 Masters’ degrees in business, industrial-organizational psychology, and national resource strategy. His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (2), and Bronze Star (3). Active TS (SCI-eligible) clearance .

Michael A. Riley, PhD

Professor Department of Rehabilitation, Exercise, & Nutrition Sciences College of Allied Health Sciences

Dr. Riley received his BA in Psychology from the University of Louisiana-Monroe in 1994 and his PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1999. He has been on the UC faculty since 2000, serving from 2000-2021 in the Department of Psychology (where he was the Director of the Center for Cognition, Action, and Perception) and beginning in 2021 in the Department of Rehabilitation, Exercise, & Nutrition Sciences. He serves as Director of the Digital Futures Advanced Human Performance & Neuromechanics Laboratory. His research intersects human biomechanics, neuroscience, and cognitive science, using theoretical perspectives from complex dynamical systems theory and the ecological approach to perception-action, technological tools such as AR/VR and motion capture, and analytic tools such as nonlinear time series methods and mathematical modeling. Using this integrative framework, his work investigates human sensorimotor coordination, control, learning, and adaptation with applications to rehabilitation, injury risk reduction, and preserving and enhancing human performance. He has published over 125 peer-reviewed articles, and his work has been supported by over $10 million in funding from agencies including the U.S. Army Medical Research & Development Command, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.

Paula Silva, PT, MS, PhD

Associate Professor Department of Psychology UC College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Paula L. Silva received a BA degree in Physical Therapy from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG (Brazil), an MS degree in Rehabilitation Science also from UFMG, and a PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Connecticut in 2009. She is currently an Associate Professor and co-director of graduate training in the Psychology Department, University of Cincinnati. She is also primary faculty at the Center for Cognition, Action, & Perception and active member of UC’s Digital Futures, working on the interface between the Bio-AI and Human Performance Labs. As a scientist, she studies human performance, both functional and dysfunctional, from the perspectives of complexity science and ecological psychology. Her research focuses on (a) the action strategies of individuals of different ages, with and without pathological conditions, during performance of a variety of tasks, and (b) the perceptual capabilities that supports adaptability of action strategies to particular circumstances. Her research program has three complimentary aims. The first is to examine and advance general theoretical principles to explain the coordination and perceptual regulation of biological movement that support successful performance in diverse circumstances. The second is to reveal and explain changes in movement coordination and perceptual capabilities associated with pathological conditions. The third is to apply these principles in the design of methods to assess and enhance resilience of individuals with movement-related disability and those at risk for sports injury. Her overarching goal is to promote effective cross-fertilization between theory and applied fields related to the enhancement of human performance.

Tomasz Stepinski, PhD

Professor Thomas Jefferson Endowed Chair for Discovery Department of Geography UC College of Arts and Sciences

Tomasz Stepinski is interested in planets (including the Earth), computation, and data science. He is the Thomas Jefferson Chair Professor of Space Exploration in the Department of Geography and GIS of the University of Cincinnati. Tomasz has a master’s in astrophysics and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Arizona. Prior to his appointment at UC in 2010, he held a position of Staff Scientist in the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX, a NASA-funded Institute devoted to planetary research and to supporting the planetary science community. Tomasz’s early research concentrated on the formation of the Solar System and other planetary systems. He also pioneered the field of automatic extraction of information from large datasets, for example, automatic identification of craters in images or automated mapping of various landforms from digital elevation models. Since arriving at UC his major concentration is the research on more complete utilization of space-based data (images, topography, etc.) through an intelligent algorithmic exploration of vast datasets. His research was funded by numerous grants from NSF and NASA. The full account of Tomasz’s contributions to science can be found at Google Scholar.

Mary F. Wadel, MS

Director of Technology Integration and Partnerships NASA’s Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio

Mary F. Wadel received her master’s degree in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University. She is graduate of the University of Cincinnati where she earned her bachelor’s in aerospace engineering. Ms. Wadel serves as the director of Technology Integration and Partnerships at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. In this role, she is responsible for aligning the center’s early-stage technology investments with its long-term technology goals, strategic partnerships for economic development in the region, and the transfer of Glenn-developed technologies to private industry. She served in a number of leadership roles at NASA Glenn, including on detail acting director of her current office, deputy director of Aeronautics at NASA Glenn, where she assisted in overseeing the center’s investments in research and development projects under the agency’s Advanced Air Vehicles, Integrated Aviation Systems, Airspace Operations and Safety, and Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Programs.  Wadel began her NASA career in 1988 performing experimental research in rocket propulsion. She transitioned to working in aeronautics in 1999 as the project manager for aircraft icing. She went on to hold several project management positions, including stints with the Advanced Air Transport Technology Project, Cryogenic Fluid Management Project, and Technology Investments in the Aeronautics Test Program. Wadel also spent eight years as the chief of Glenn’s Aircraft Icing Branch. She completed a detail assignment as the deputy director of research at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In this role, she supported research in developing technologies to revolutionize air and space travel in the areas of aerosciences, materials and structures, and integrated flight systems. Ms Wadel has been recognized for her contributions as a recipient of NASA Exceptional Service Medal and The Robert J. Collier Trophy as part of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team.

Download the SRIDE-Brochure (PDF)

Space Research Institute Fellowship Program

The Institute has established two fellowship programs, one for undergraduates and one for graduate students. These awards will begin in January 2022. They are:

• SRIDE Fellowship for Discovery - Undergraduates
• SRIDE Fellowship for Exploration – Graduate Students

SRIDE Fellowship for Discovery (undergrads)

Sydney Dobler Chemistry College of Arts and Sciences

Ethan McCowan Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

Grant Miller Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering & Applied Science

Steven Kraine Computer Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

Yashvi Srivastava Aerospace Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

Ross Thayer Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering & Applied Science

SRIDE Fellowship for Exploration (graduate students) 

Nicole Carver Psychology College of Arts & Sciences

Dylan Roach Aerospace Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

Rebecca Gilligan Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

Liang Zhang Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management College of Engineering & Applied Science

Aida Ramusovic-Witham Political Science School of Public and International Affairs, College of Arts & Sciences

Wilhelm Louw Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering & Applied Science

Prasanna Adhikari Astrophysics/Mathematics College of Arts & Sciences

Tri Nguyen Aerospace Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

Mikhail Nikolaneko Computer Science College of Engineering & Applied Science

Nathan Steffen Aerospace Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

SRIDE Fellowship for Exploration (graduate students)

Shraddha Barawkar Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering & Applied Science

Andrew Barth Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering & Applied Science

Piero Paialunga Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering & Applied Science

Elizabeth Rochford Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering & Applied Science

Matthew Verbryke Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics College of Engineering & Applied Science

For more information, please see this news article

Anirudh Chhabra PhD student, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences – Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics

Daegyun Choi PhD student, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences – Aerospace Engineering

Aida Ramusovic PhD student, College of Arts and Sciences - Political Science

Benjamin Russ MS student, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences – Mechanical Engineering

Rebecca Gilligan College of Engineering & Applied Science

Recipients of the Inaugural SRIDE Fellowship

Kyle Dunlap PhD student in Aerospace Engineering Summer Semester 2021.

Awards, Accolades and Recognition

Collaborative Research Advancement Program – Pilot Grants

The Office of Research offers two ‘space-related’ pilot grants each year. Dr. Lindsey Romick, an Associate Professor in the Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine was awarded a two-year grant (2024 - 2026) for the proposal entitled ‘Unraveling the Cosmic Secrets: Why Metabolomics is Essential for Space's Newfound Bacteria?’

SRIDE Fellows participate in SRIDE's Annual Symposium

On November 16, 2023, the SRIDE held its annual symposium at Digital Futures. The keynote speakers were Ms. Mary Wadel, Director, Technology Integration and Partnerships and Ms. Jeanne King, Partnership Specialist & Technology Manager, NASA Glenn Research Center. Class 2 (Exploration Fellows) presented their final work (2022 – 2023). Class 2 included Shraddha Barawkar, Andrew Barth, Piero Paialunga, Elizabeth Rochford, and Matthew Verbryke. Class 2.1 (Discovery Fellows) Yashvi Srivastava and Ross Thayer presented their work (FS 2023). Class 3 (Exploration Fellows for 2023 – 2024) included Nicole Carver, Dylan Roach, Rebecca Gilligan, Liang Zhang, Aida Ramusovic-Witham, and Wilhelm Louw. They each gave a quick update on their work. This event marked the culmination of the SRIDE Fellows work. Professor Doarn, SRIDE Director, recognized each Fellow with a memento of their fellowship.

SS2023 SRIDE Fellows (l-r) M Verbryke, Y Srivastava, R Thayer, P Paialunga, A Barth Professor Doarn (not shown S Barawkar, E Rochford)

SRIDE Fellows participate in the UC’s Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase

On April 20, 2023, the SRIDE Fellows of Discovery participated in UC’s annual Undergraduate Showcases in Tangeman Hall. SS2023 Fellows (Prasanna Adhikari, Rebecca Gilligan, Tri Nguyen, Mikhail Nikolaneko and Nathan Steffen) presented their work either in a poster presentation or podium presentation –  Exploring the Beyond . This event marked the culmination of their SRIDE Fellowship of Discovery. Professor Doarn, SRIDE Director, recognized each Fellow with a memento of their fellowship. ’

SS2023 SRIDE Fellows (l-r) R. Gilligan, M. Nikolaneko, N. Steffen, Professor Doarn, R. Nguyen and P. Adhikari ’

SRIDE Holds its Inaugural Symposium at Digital Futures

On November 17, 2022, SRIDE held it inaugural symposium at Digital Futures. The symposium provided an opportunity for the SRIDE Fellows of Discovery and Exploration to share their work. The first-class Discovery Fellows (Rebecca Gilligan) and Exploration Fellows (Aida Ramusovic, Anirudh Chhabra, Benjamin Russ, Daegyun Choi and Yufeng Sun) provide excellent summaries of their research during this past year. The second class of Fellows provide a brief summary of their work in the ‘lightening round’. The second class of Fellows include Rebecca Gilligan as Discovery Fellow and Shraddha Barawkar, Andrew Barth, Piero Paialunga, Elizabeth Rochford and Matthew Verbryke as Exploration Fellows. The meeting kicked off with remarks from Dr Patrick Limbach, Vice President of Research. The keynote address was given by Dr. Kelly Cohen, UC College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His address was entitled ‘Human-centered Trustworthy AI enabled Aeromedical and Biomedical Systems for Space Exploration.’

Doarn named a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics in July 2022.

SRIDE Director, Professor Charles Doarn was recently inducted as a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He was previously a corresponding member in the Life Sciences Section.

2022 –

• Javier Viaña Pérez was notified of his selection for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) John Leland Atwood Graduate Award. The award will be bestowed in January 2023 at the AIAA SciTech Forum, which will be held at the National Harbour, MD
• Kyle Dunlap’s paper, entitled ‘Hybrid Fuzzy-LQR Control for Time Optimal Spacecraft Docking’, has been accepted to the 2022 NAFIPS conference.
• Viaña J, Ralescu S, Kreinovich V, Ralescu A, Cohen K were the winners of the Best Paper Award at the 2022 NAFIPS Annual Conference, May 31-June 3, 2022, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The paper was ‘Initialization and Plasticity of CEFYDRA (Cluster-first Explainable FuzzY-based Deep self-Reorganizing Algorithm)’.
• Verbryke M, Cohen, K. were the winners of the Best Student Paper Award at the 2022 NAFIPS Annual Conference, May 31-June 3, 2022, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The paper was ‘Pulsar Candidate Selection Using a Genetic Fuzzy System’.
• Gilligan R, Cohen K. Winner of first place for best undergraduate student paper at the AIAA Student Competition, Region III, Purdue University, IN, March 25-26, 2022. The paper was ‘Design of an All-Terrain Aerial Robotic Interface (ATARI) as a Collaborative Platform for UAVs”.

Internship Opportunities

The NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH ( https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/home/index.html ) has several internship opportunities. To find out more about these, please visit https://intern.nasa.gov .

Diversity and Inclusion

One of the Institutes key objectives is to encourage all students to get involved in the many facets of aerospace and space exploration. Virtually every discipline at UC has a role to play in preparing leaders for these growing fields. The are several organizations here at UC that encourage students, especially women, to purse careers in engineering, science, and medicine. These include the following:

Women in Flight

Women in Flight at UC is a student organization whose mission is to create a close network of students with interest in the aviation/aerospace industries and to provide support academically, professionally, and socially while promoting the future generation of female students in STEM fields. Our members come from a wide variety of engineering disciplines with a like mindset of unity and support within the organization. The contact for this group in Rachel Wiggins [email protected] . Additional information can be found at www.ucwif.com .

Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS)

UC’s College of Medicine has a group entitled ‘ Women in Medicine & Science (WIMS) ’. This group is dedicated to the recruitment, advancement and retention of women faculty and trainees. Additional information on WIMS can be found at https://med.uc.edu/landing-pages/wims/ . Dr. Heather Christensen is the current president. She can be reached at [email protected] .

EVENTS AND NEWS

More Information

Doarn Book Collection

Event from May 22-24, 2023

Professor Doarn, the Inaugural Director of SRIDE donated to the UC Library an extensive collection of books, reports, and monographs from his career with NASA. These books come from NASA, the International Academy of Astronautics, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Research Council.

> Read Story SRIDE

Ohio Space Forum 2023

UC was a silver sponsor of the 2023 Ohio Space Forum.

Ohio Global Aerospace and Supplier Summit

Event on May 16-17, 2023

SRIDE supported the Ohio Global Aerospace and Supplier Summit in Cleveland as a silver sponsor

Ohio Space Forum

Event on 5/17/2022

UC was a silver sponsor of the 2022 Ohio Space Forum.

The Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation at NASA Glenn Newsletter

Our joint event with NASA Glenn was mentioned in the Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation at NASA Glenn Newsletter

> Read Story The Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation at NASA Glenn Newsletter

2021 Ohio Space Forum

Event on 5/18/2021

Professor Doarn and several UC faculty and students participated in the virtual Ohio Space Forum 2021 event. The forum, organized by the Dayton Development Coalition and JobsOhio, served as a platform for reviewing industry, academia and government’s efforts and opportunities for promoting Ohio’s role in the growing aerospace industry and how our multidisciplinary students fit into this. The Institute is part of UC’s vision of Research 2030 and Digital Futures. The event included remarks from Governor DeWine, both Ohio’s sitting senators, US and state representatives, the USAF, and NASA. Doarn participated in an academic panel along with professors from The Ohio State University, the University of Toledo, Cleveland State University, and The Eisenhower School – National Defense University. UC was a key sponsor, using the Institute’s tagline – “Preparing the next generation of leaders in space exploration through disciplinary collaboration and education.”

> Read Story 2021 Ohio Space Forum

Future of Aeronautics: A Virtual Forum

Event on 3/19/2021

On March 19, 2021, the UC Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration hosted a virtual forum with the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). This event showcased the interests and opportunities for NASA to work closely with academia in a wide variety of areas and allowed us to align and strategize how UC's academic prowess in aeronautics and aerospace engineering could be applied through collaborations with NASA's aeronautics efforts.

> Read Story The Future of Aeronautics: Connecting UC, NASA, and Industry in Ohio

Potential Partners

Partnerships and collaborations are predicted on both need and interest. The following is a growing list of potential collaborators with which our faculty and students can become engaged with in pursuit of their academic training and potential future initiatives.

IAA – International Academy of Astronautics

> Visit IAA

TRISH – Translational Research Institute for Space Research

> Visit TRISH

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

> Visit NASA

Space Force

> Visit Space Force

AFRL Air Force Research Laboratory

>Visit Consortium for Space Mobility and In-space Assembly and Manufacturing ISAM Capabilities site

> Visit site

Publications (2015 - Present)

Our faculty and students participate in a wide variety of disciplines which result in scholarly output, including edited books, book chapters, peer-reviewed manuscripts, federal reports, perspectives and editorials. This output is listed here as a key reference list to current and future researchers. It also highlights the broad knowledge base ensconced here at UC that can serve as an enabling tool for collaboration.

Student-Led Papers  (Student's Name is underlined)

• Gilligan R , Cohen K. “Design of an All-Terrain Aerial Robotic Interface (ATARI) as a Collaborative Platform for UAVs”, AIAA Student Competition, Region III, Purdue University, IN, March 25-26, 2022, Winner of first place for best undergraduate student paper.
• Dunlap K , Mote M, Delsing K, Hobbs KL. Run Time Assured Reinforcement Learning for Safe Satellite Docking. AIAA SciTech Forum. San Diego, CA. January 2022.

Charles Doarn

• Doarn CR. Skylab Biomedical Accomplishments – Paving the Way to the International Space Station. Space Educ Strategic Appl . 2024:4(3): hdoi.org/10.18278/sesa.4.3.3
• Doarn CR. Interview with Dr. Stanley White, One of America’s First NASA Flight Surgeons. Aerosp Med Human Perf. 2024;95(4):223-25 .
• David JW, Doarn CR , Scheuring R, Polk JD. A History of the NASA Operational Flight Surgeon Activity: 1958 - Present. Acta Astronautica. 2023;202:252-64.
• Book - Space Physiology and Medicine – from Evidence to Practice, 4 th edition . Editors: A Nicogossian, CL Huntoon, RS Williams, CR Doarn , V Schneider, and JD Polk. 2016 . Springer, New York. DOI-10.1007/978-1-4939-6652-3. ISBN 978-1-4939-6650-9 / e-book - ISBN 978-1-4939-6652-3
• Doarn CR, Shimada K, Shepanek M. The Legacy of the Wright State University Aerospace Medicine Residency Program. Aerosp Med Human Perf. 2021;92(9):744-50.
• Doarn CR, Polk JD, Grigoriev, Comtois J-M, Shimada K, Weerts G, Dervay JP, Taddeo TA, Sargsyan A. A Framework for Multinational Medical Support for International Space Station: A Model for Exploration. Aerosp Med Human Perf. 2021;92(2):129-34 .
• OCHMO Mishap Investigation Flight Surgeon Handbook – NASA. Editors – JD Polk, CR Doarn. NASA SP-2020-5006891. NASA, Washington, DC. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/spaceflight-mishap-investigation-flight-surgeon-handbook
• Simpson AT, Doarn CR, Garber SJ. Interagency Cooperation in the Twilight of the Great Society: Telemedicine, NASA, and the Papago Nation. J Pol History 2020;32(1):25-51 .
• Doarn CR. Polk JD, Shepanek M. Health Challenges Including Behavioral Problems in Long Duration Spaceflight. Neurol India. 2019;67(8):S190-95.
• Doarn CR, Travis TW, Currie-Gregg NK, Nicogossian AE, Weyland M, Shepanek M, Null C, Buckland D, Miller S, Liskowsky D, Fuller D, Francisco D, Walton M, Antonsen E, Rochlis J, Witt EG, Williams RS. Engineering, Life Sciences, and Health/Medicine Synergy in Aerospace Human Systems Integration: The Rosetta Stone Project: An Executive Summary. New Space. 2019;7(2):110-13. ePub – December 13, 2018
• Book – Engineering, Life Sciences, and Health/Medicine Synergy in Aerospace Human Systems Integration. The Rosetta Stone Project . Editors. RS Williams and CR Doarn. NASA SP-2017-633. NASA, Washington DC. ISBN 978-1-62683-044-8. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20180001256.pdf
• Alsamhi SH. Shvetsov AV, Guizani M, Ma O , Curry E. Blockchain-Empowered Security and Energy Efficiency of Drone Swarm Consensus for Environment Exploration. to appear in IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking , 2022.
• Sun Y, Zhang L, Ma O. Force-Vision Sensor Fusion Improves Learning-based Approach for Self-Closing Door Pulling. IEEE Access. 2021;9. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3118594.
• Barth A, Sun Y, Ma O. Genetic Fuzzy Based Method for Training Two Independent Robots to Perform a Cooperative Task. Intelligent Service Robotics . 2021;14:535-48, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11370-021-00379-2.
• Alsamhi SH, Almalki F, Ma O , Ansari MS, Lee B. Predictive estimation of optimal signal strength from drones over IoT frameworks in smart cities. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing . 2021.
• Papadopoulos E, Aghili F, Ma O , Lampariello R. Robotic manipulation and capture in space: A survey. Frontiers in Robotics and AI . 2021:228
• Sathyan A, Cohen K, Ma O. Genetic fuzzy based scalable system of distributed robots for a collaborative task. Front Robot AI . 2020;7:601243.
• Zhang L, Sun Y, Barth A, Ma O. Decentralized Control of Multi-Robot System in Cooperative Object Transportation Using Deep Reinforcement Learning. IEEE Access. 2020;8:184109-184119.
• Alsamhi SH, Ma O, Ansari MS, Almalki F. Survey on Collaborative Smart Drones and Internet of Things for Improving Smartness of Smart Cities. IEEE Access . 2019;7:128125-128152.
• Sathyan A, Cohen K, Ma O. Comparison Between Genetic Fuzzy Methodology and Q-Learning for Collaborative Control Design. Int J Artificial Intelligence Appl. 2019;10(2):.
• Flores-Abad A, Zhang L, Zheng W, Ma O. Optimal Capture of a Tumbling Object in Orbit Using a Space Manipulator. J Intelligent Robotic Syst. 2017;86(2):199–211.
• Flores-Abad A, Ma O, Pham K, Ulrich S. A Review of Robotics Technologies for On-Orbit Services. Progr Aerosp Sci . 2014;68:1-26.
• Flores-Abad A, Ma O, Zheng W, Pham K. Optimal Controller for a Space Robot with Uncertainties in the Boundary Conditions. J Guidance Control Dynamics . 2014;37(6):2014-2017.
• Ma O, Flores-Abad A, Boge T. Use of industrial robots for hardware-in-the-loop simulation of satellite rendezvous and docking. Acta Astronautica. 2012;81(1):335-47.
• Lu Q, Ortega C, Ma O. Passive gravity compensation mechanisms: technologies and applications. Recent Patents on Engineering. 2011;5(1):32-44.
• Ma O, Dang H, Pham K. On-orbit identification of inertia properties of spacecraft using a robotic arm. J Guidance Control Dynamics . 2008;31(6):1761-771.

Tomasz Stepinski

• Saeedimoghaddam M, Stepinski TF. Multiplicative random cascade models of multifractal urban structures. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications . 2021;569:125767.
• Stepinski TF, Dmowska A. Complexity in patterns of racial segregation. Chaos Solitons Fractals. 2020;140:110207.
• Saeedimoghaddam M, Stepinski TF, Dmowska A. Renyi’s spectra of urban form for different modalities of input data. Chaos Solitons Fractals. 2020;139:109995.
• Dmowska A, Stepinski TF, Nowosad J. Racial landscapes – a pattern-based, zoneless method for analysis and visualization of racial topography. Appl Geograph . 2020;122:102239.
• Nowosad J, Stepinski TF. Information theory as a consistent framework for quantification and classification of landscape patterns. Landscape Ecol. 2019;34(9):2091-101.
• Nowosad J, Stepinski TF, Netzel P. Global assessment and mapping of changes in mesoscale landscapes: 1992–2015. Int J Appl Earth Observ Geoinformat . 2019:78:332-40.
• Nowosad J, Stepinski TF. Spatial association between regionalizations using the information-theoretical V-measure. Int J Geographic Inform Sci. 2018;32(12):2386-401.
• Nowosad J, Stepinski TF. Towards machine ecoregionalization of Earth's landmass using pattern segmentation method. Int J Appl Earth Observ Geoinformat. 2018;69:110-18.
• Netzel P, Stepinski TF. (2018) Climate Similarity Search - GeoWeb Tool for Exploring Climate Variability. Bull Amer Meteor Soc. 2018;99(3):475-77.
• Nowosad J, Stepinski TF. Global inventory of landscape patterns and latent variables of landscape spatial configuration. Ecolog Indicat. 2018;89:159-67.

Kelly Cohen

• Viaña J, Ralescu S, Ralescu A, Kreinovich V, Cohen K. Explainable Fuzzy Cluster-based Regression Algorithm with Gradient Descent Learning. Complex Engineering Systems . 2022;2: http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ces.2022.14.
• Viaña J, Badenas-Agusti M, Vanderburg A, Seager S, Blouin S, Dufour P, López- Morales M, Cohen K. Enhancing Explainability with the Proximity Awareness Algorithm”, Nature Machine Intelligence (based on completed PhD thesis to be submitted in Summer 2022 in collaboration with MIT Kavli Space Institute).
• Viaña J, Ralescu S, Cohen K , Ralescu A, Kreinovich V. Why Cauchy Membership Functions, Explainability. Advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning . 2021;1(1):81-88.
• Gosian G, Cohen K. Sparse Requirements Systems Engineering and Implications for Assured Autonomy. J Defense Manag. 2021;11(6):No. https://www.longdom.org/open-access/sparse-requirements-systems-engineering-and-implications-for-assured-autonomy.pdf
• A Fuzzy Logic Approach for Spacecraft Landing Site Selection. Barth A, Cohen K, Ma O.
• Why Fuzzy Techniques in Explainable AI? Which Fuzzy Techniques in Explainable AI? Cohen K, Bokati L, Ceberio M, Kosheleva O, Kreinovich V.
• Comparing the Explainability and Performance of Reinforcement Learning and Genetic Fuzzy Systems for Safe Satellite Docking. Dunlap K, Cohen K, Hobbs K

Space Biology Program

The main objective of Space Biology research is to build a better understanding of how spaceflight affects living systems in spacecraft such as the International Space Station (ISS), or in ground-based experiments that mimic aspects of spaceflight, and to prepare for future human exploration missions far from Earth. The experiments we conduct on these platforms examine how plants, microbes, and animals adjust or adapt to living in space. We examine processes of metabolism, growth, stress response , physiology, and development. We study how organisms repair cellular damage and protect themselves from infection and disease in conditions of microgravity while being exposed to space radiation. And we do it across the spectrum of biological organization, from molecules to cells, from tissues and organs, and from systems to whole organisms to communities of microorganisms.

Our program’s core objectives include:

• Discovering how biological systems respond, acclimate and adapt to the space environment
• Developing integrated physiological models for biology in space
• Identifying the underlying mechanisms and networks that govern biological processes in the space environment
• Promoting open science through the GeneLab Data System  and  Life Sciences Data Archive
• Developing cutting-edge biological technologies to facilitate spaceflight research
• Developing mechanistic understanding to support human health in space
• Enabling the transfer of knowledge and technology to the understanding of life on Earth

Space Biology Science Plan (PDF)

Search the Space Station Research Explorer for Space Biology experiments

In addition to providing useful information on how living organisms adapt to spaceflight, the discoveries NASA researchers make in space have enormous implications for life on Earth. Space Biology's research into the virulence of pathogens in space, loss of bone density, and the changes in the growth of plants can impact the development of drugs that promote wound healing or tissue regeneration, treatments designed to counter osteoporosis on Earth, and high-tech fertilizers that increase crop yield.

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Animal Biology

Life in space produces profound changes in biology. All organisms on Earth have adapted to perform under conditions of gravity, atmosphere, and cycles of light and darkness that have not changed in millions of years, conditions which are altered aboard spacecraft like the ISS. For example, while circling Earth at speeds of 17,130 miles an hour, crewmembers of the ISS experience sunrise and sunset 16 times a day! Simply put, terrestrial organisms are not designed for life in space.

The goal of the Space Biology Program in the animal biology area is to understand the basic mechanisms that animals use to adapt and/or acclimate to spaceflight and alterations in gravity in general. Animals are frequently used to model human disease as well as how humans respond to stressful stimuli. The most commonly used model organisms for which genomics are now well defined include vertebrate species, e.g., rodents, both rats and mice, and a variety of invertebrate species, e.g., nematodes and insects. NASA has used these model organisms extensively to evaluate biological spaceflight hazards, elucidate the fundamental mechanisms life uses to adapt to microgravity, and apply such knowledge to advance human exploration, and for societal benefits on Earth.

Read about a Behavior Analysis Study that shows mice adapt to spaceflight.

As we examine the impacts of spaceflight on animal biology and physiology, we ask the following questions:

• Do the effects of spaceflight level off over time, get worse, or get better?
• Are the effects of spaceflight exposure permanent or do they decrease and/or vanish with time upon return?
• Can we prevent adverse effects before they appear, or at least lessen their impact?
• What conditions are required for animals to live in space for years, come back to Earth, and remain healthy?

Cell and Molecular Biology

Cell and molecular biology research cuts across all science disciplines in Space Biology, from understanding how single-celled organisms, such as protozoa, bacteria, and fungi respond to the conditions of spaceflight, to how all of the various cells in a complex tissue or organ work together to help an organism as a whole acclimate to such a foreign environment. The overarching goal of Space Biology Cell and Molecular Biology research at NASA is to determine how the stresses of the spaceflight environment affect living systems at the basic cellular and molecular levels, using contemporary cell and molecular biology techniques and measures. This includes characterizing and identifying changes in gene and protein expression, DNA function and structure, cellular structure and morphology, and cell-to-cell communication.

As we examine the impacts of spaceflight on the cell biology and physiology, we ask the following:

• What are the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms of the cells that are influenced by gravitational changes and the space environment?
• Does the space flight environment affect or influence cell and molecular functions causing tissue/organ dysfunction or disease states?
• Does the space environment affect cellular and molecular functions in a manner that impact tissue morphogenesis or development?

Microbiology

No Matter Where We Go, We Take Our Microbes

Everywhere we go, we take microorganisms with us, whether we want to or not. This is true even aboard the “clean” environment of the ISS, which is a closed environment. With a crew of astronauts on board, living, breathing, exercising, and sweating, the ISS is a breeding ground for microbes.

Microbes Can Be Both Friends and Foes

The effects of spaceflight on the biology of microorganisms and on microbial populations are largely unknown. In addition to posing a risk to astronaut health, bio-corrosive microorganisms that grow on metallic surfaces in spacecraft can damage both equipment and hardware. Unlike cruise ships on Earth which can be evacuated, emptied, and cleaned, problems that arise due to microbial contamination on long-duration spaceflight missions can only be resolved using tools and resources already present within the vessel. Understanding how microbial species grow and interact with each other in this environment is the first step in preparing for such a scenario.

While the presence of certain microbes can be problematic, it is also important to remember that many microbial species play important roles in Earth’s various ecosystems. For example, the symbiotic relationships that have evolved between plants and certain bacteria are vital in ensuring plants receive the nutrients they require to grow and flourish. Oxygen-producing cyanobacteria that live in terrestrial bodies of water help replenish Earth’s oxygen. Even the bacteria living within our digestive tracts play an important role in the digestion of our food and the proper absorption of nutrients. The presence of certain microbes may be important for the proper growth of some plants in space and may even be critical for the production of future bio-regenerative life support systems. It is therefore important to keep in mind that reaching an appropriate microbial equilibrium within a spacecraft may be vital for successful long-duration spaceflight missions.

As we examine the impacts of spaceflight on microorganisms, we ask the following:

• What underlying genetic, molecular and biochemical processes are influenced by the spaceflight environment?
• How does the spaceflight environment influence microbial reproduction, growth, and physiology?
• Does long-duration spaceflight alter normal rates of evolutionary change?
• What are the effects of spaceflight on microbial communities as they interact with other organisms to effect processes such as symbioses, biodegradation, nitrogen-fixation, etc.
• What are the mechanisms that effect changes, such as the altered virulence or altered drug resistance, observed in some organisms during spaceflight?

Plant Biology

Space Biology research helps us understand the fundamentals of plant growth by examining the very building blocks of plant life down to the molecular level: transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. To compare the effects of microgravity conditions on plants, we also conduct experiments on Earth using gravity or simulated microgravity ground controls at the Kennedy Space Center. We conduct our research on the ISS in conditions of microgravity to help us understand how to support astronauts aboard the ISS and on their long journey to Mars.

Crop Rotation: Food Production in Space One of Space Biology’s major objectives is to understand how the spaceflight environment affects how plants grow and thrive. The basic research has allowed NASA scientists to grow edible plants in space that could be used as a source of fresh food by the crew on the ISS. Considering that every single thing that astronauts eat is freeze-dried and comes out of a shrink-wrapped package, being able to enjoy a fresh vegetable provides a healthy and much welcomed break from this routine. Already, edible romaine lettuce and cabbage has successfully been grown on the ISS. Soon, Mizuna and tomatoes will join the list of edible plants gown in space.

In the next year Space Biology will fly experiments to the ISS designed to test the growth of a variety of new plants its crew can eventually eat as they fly to the moon and Mars. To ensure the health of our astronauts, we’ll be examining the nutritional composition of plants grown in space and looking at the microbiome of plants in orbit. This work may eventually lead to the production of a sustainable source of healthy food on long-duration space flights, which will help astronauts get the nutrition they need.

As we examine the impacts of spaceflight on plant biology, we ask the following:

• How does gravity affect plant growth, development & metabolism (e.g. photosynthesis, re- production, lignin formation, plant defense mechanisms)?
• Does the spaceflight environment cause alterations in plant/microbe interactions?
• How can horticultural approaches for sustained production of edible crops in space be both improved and implemented (especially as related to water and nutrient provision in the root zone)?
• What are the effects of chronic exposure to cosmic radiation on plants?

How do plants sense and react to gravity and what are the molecular mechanisms involved?

Developmental, Reproductive and Evolutionary Biology

What happens to reproduction and the development of offspring across a lifespan and over multiple generations in space? What about differences in how males and females respond to the space environment? As we set our sights toward the exploration and colonization of Mars, these are the big questions that the Reproduction, Development, and Sex Differences Laboratory of the NASA Space Biosciences Research Branch strives to answer. Since no mammal has yet given birth in space, the answers we seek may not be seen for years.

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