CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a genetic editing scientific technique that can be used to increase, decrease, insert or remove genes from organisms. Exploring its application in plants could be helpful for understanding plants' stress responses in microgravity that could translate to improved agricultural practices on Earth, in space, or or other terrestrial bodies on exploration missions. In this TÜBİTAK UZAY-sponsored project "Extreme Salt Stress and CRISPR Gene Editing Efficiency in Plants Under Microgravity" (Extremophyte CRISPR), researchers will investigate the downregulation via the CRISPR technique of three genes involved in the stress response of Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress, a member of the mustard family). The second aim will evaluate the salt stress tolerance of two plants - one salt-sensitive and one salt-tolerant - that will be germinated and grown in the International Space Station (ISS).  This work builds on previous microgravity investigations showing how microgravity affects the growth, movement and genetics of this plant, and could provide valuable insights into plant adaptation to extreme environments and help develop more resilient crops for agriculture.

The UYNA experiment will investigate novel medium entropy and high entropy alloys (MEAs and HEAs, respectively). These types of metal alloys are characterized by their high strength, toughness, and resistance to corrosion and are of interest for potential applications in many industries, including space, aviation, automotive, energy, and medicine. The data from this experiment will help to improve the understanding of the formation and properties of MEA/HEA alloys, which could lead to the development of new and improved materials for a variety of applications.

The microgravity effects on metal particles dynamics in fluids (gMETAL) project from TÜBİTAK UZAY will investigate how the lack of gravity impacts the mixing of solid particles in a gas (two-phase mixture formation) within a contained environment. This mixing is important to understand how metal particles and an oxidizing gas can react in a combustion chamber for efficient combustion and maximum heat release. Applications for this research include the development of zero-carbon energy generation technologies on Earth by burning metal particles in air; or for development of propulsion systems or energy generation on Mars, for example, by reacting metal particles with CO2 collected from the Martian atmosphere.

The MESSAGE (Microgravity Associated Genetics Research Group) project from the TÜBİTAK UZAY portfolio on Ax-3 is interested in assessing microgravity-associated changes in gene expression in human immune system T-cells collected from an astronaut. After flight, the project will use CRISPR gene editing technologies to knock out genes in T-cells found to be upregulated by space travel. The researchers will also aim to produce immune cells with the observed microgravity-associated gene changes by using an acoustic levitation device on the ground to mimic microgravity and explore the cells' changes in proliferation, survival, and stress responses at a cellular level. By better understanding the response of the immune system to the stress of microgravity, the project aims to identify potential space travelers who may be more suited to long duration spaceflight missions due to the resilience of their immune system.

Spaceflight can be a stressful experience for the human body to adapt to changes in microgravity, such as physical demands, nutritional changes, and lack of sleep. The physiological changes can be monitored by profiling the "'omics" of the body — the changes in gene expression (genomics), protein expression (proteomics) or metabolites (metabolomics). A better understanding of these changes in an individual's response to spaceflight can help to develop personalized countermeasure procedures that can optimize the safety and performance of each astronaut. This project aims to gather data to better understand omics changes seen after spaceflight and inform Turkish researchers working on gravitational physiology, aviation, and space medicine on best practices for astronaut care, as part of Türkiye’s rapidly developing national space program.

Propolis extract is a natural product from bees called "bee glue" used for hive construction and maintenance, which has the potential to be characterized as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. This project is a STEM project led by 13–14-year-old students aiming to investigate the effect of propolis extract on bacteria in microgravity. If the experiments prove that propolis extract can exhibit anti-microbial properties in space, it could open avenues for future research on new and natural product-based cleaning agents for future spaceflight applications.

Algae have many properties that make them ideal organisms to support humans during long-duration spaceflight missions. Not only could they serve as a nutritional source included in astronaut menus, algae could also remove carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for spacecraft environmental control systems, help regulate spacecraft temperatures, recycle certain wastes, and even act as a source of fuel. The data generated from this experiment will be used to advance the development of microalgal life support systems for space missions and could impact the design of future carbon dioxide capture, oxygen conversion, wastewater treatment systems, and provide fertilizer options for other agricultural crops grown in space.

The Vokalkord experiment will focus on developing an artificial intelligence system to detect over 70 types of disease by analyzing respiratory, speaking, and cough sounds. This project further develops the software for use on Earth as a tool to identify and diagnose lung cancers, voice and vocal cord diseases, infectious diseases, and even cardiovascular and eye disease.

The ANITA-2 project will sample air from the atmosphere on the ISS and automatically analyze trace contaminants. The system can recognize and quantify 33 trace gases via infrared light and identify unknown substances for additional analyzes on the ground. This project is part of ESA's ongoing technology development efforts for safe spaceflight in low-Earth orbit and beyond.

Exposure to microgravity and immobilization can cause a loss of bone density, which can increase the risk of bone breakage and injury. In microgravity, the changes start to take place very soon after leaving Earth—the extent and timeframe of reversal of these changes upon return from space are under investigation. This ongoing ESA-led project is monitoring whether bone loss halts or continues upon re-entry after human spaceflight missions.

‍

This project is developing and testing an artificial intelligence (AI) powered free-flying companion, called CIMON, to support crew and help with mission efficiency during long-term missions. CIMON can fly freely through the ISS to support crew as they perform tasks and can respond to verbal commands. This technology development project is also looking at human machine interactions to build robots and other technologies that are intuitive and easy for humans to use and rely on. The work will help design technologies on Earth that will optimize performance for seamless integration into many sectors, such as manufacturing, aviation, and healthcare.

‍

The DNAmAge project will investigate how radiation exposure during spaceflight can affect DNA and its repair. By looking at epigenetic changes, ESA researchers will learn more about the epigenetic clock, which is a combined measure of aging in humans that takes into account a person's birthday and biological age. This project will help us understand the impact of spaceflight on aging mechanisms in the human body and provide broad applicability to the study of aging and its biological bases.

The experiment aims to determine the direct and delayed post-flight effects on neural stem cells after long-term microgravity exposure and investigate if the delayed effects are the result of genetic changes emerging during microgravity or to secreted components in the medium during the flight. Elucidating delayed effects of microgravity may contribute to the development of new protocols for microgravity exploitation in biomedicine.

‍

The ESA-led Surface Avatar project is focused on developing robotic assets for space exploration, building infrastructure on planets and asteroids, and optimizing processes for data connections and communications relays.It is also looking at how well an operator responds to haptic (touch) feedback while controlling the robots. The applications of this project are also useful in scenarios such as arctic exploration, search and rescue in disaster zones, and under-sea maintenance.

‍

Architecture is known to play a crucial role in shaping physical and social environments and have a direct impact on human physical and psychological well-being. This study aims to investigate the effects of architectural settings, as well as its properties on an astronaut’s cognitive performance, stress levels, and stress recovery rate. This activity looks to study the effects between the above-mentioned factors in isolated and confined environments on Earth and in space analog missions, which are similarly observed in the environment of a space station.

When humans enter microgravity many changes to their body take place, such as to the brain and central nervous system which has to adapt to altered sensory information arriving from the eyes, ears, and muscles. This ongoing ESA-sponsored project aims to identify biomarkers for this adaptation via use of advanced MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) brain imaging methods such as Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI). Identification of neural biomarkers related to sensorimotor adaptation after spaceflight could also lead to improved interventions for humans on Earth, for example after injury or stroke.

‍

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a non-invasive imaging technique that can give information of the size and shape of the heart, function of the ventricles, blood flow, and presence of coronary artery disease markers. This ongoing ESA project aims to use CMR to create a database of the cardiovascular system of ESA astronauts, which could help determine short-term changes in shape and function of the cardiovascular system as well as allow comparisons with well-characterized head-down (-6°) tilt bed rest (HDBR) studies, which have been broadly used as physiological analogs of spaceflight for decades.

‍

ISS Ham Radio conducted by crew members on Axiom Space private astronaut missions (PAMs), connect youth, educators, and members of the public with a crew member on the International Space Station via amateur radio. Participating students learn about space, the space station, Earth observation, wireless technology, and radio science. The first-hand exposure to life in space helps inspire the next generation of explorers.

Brain organoids are small 3D aggregates of neural cells that can be used to explore how the human nervous system develops or starts to degenerate (in diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis), and how safe and effective therapeutics might be. Using human neural cells means human-specific biochemical pathways can be uncovered or targeted, helping reduce the need for animal studies that may not replicate human neural responses or predict how well humans respond to different treatments. The Cosmic Brain Organoids project will use brain organoids derived from the stem cells of patients with the neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson's disease and primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis, to assess how microgravity affects the cells and uncover cellular pathways that could suggest novel therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases on Earth.

Following research conducted on Axiom Mission 1 and Axiom Mission 2, Axiom Space continues to work with TRISH to gather systematic data on human physiology, biometric monitoring, cognitive and behavioral performance, genetic data and gene expression, contextual data through questionnaires, balance and space motion sickness, and spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS) visual changes. This portfolio of projects will help understand how humans adapt to space, specifically in the context of commercial spaceflight participants. Results can also help inform Earth-based research into eye or movement disorders and the cognitive and emotional impacts of isolated, confined, or stressful environments.

In partnership with Axiom Space, the Cancer in LEO project from the Sanford Stem Cell Institute will study tumor organoids in microgravity with the goal to identify early warning signs of cancer for prediction and prevention of the disease. This project is part of the expanded ISSCOR collaboration between the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, JM Foundation, and Axiom Space, which aims to use microgravity to further understand stem cells, cancer, and aging-related effects in space to develop better prediction of disease and therapeutics for patients on Earth.

The  Space Hematopoietic Stem Cell Aging (SASHA) project on Ax-3 is a project from the Sanford Stem Cell Institute/UC San Diego in partnership with Axiom Space. The project investigates the activity of RNA-editing enzymes (including ADAR1, also being investigated in the Cancer in LEO project) that are involved in mutations that may be related to the development of immune dysfunction-related disease states and cancer. Understanding how the gene editing enzymes are affected by microgravity in hematopoietic cells (blood stem cells) could give insight into how leukemias and other cancers develop on Earth. This project is part of the expanded Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Reseach (ISSCOR) collaboration between the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, JM Foundation, and Axiom Space, which aims to use microgravity to further understand stem cells, cancer, and aging-related effects in space in order to develop better prediction of disease and therapeutics for patients on Earth.  

In this project, the activity of DNA and RNA-editing enzymes involved in mutations that may be related to development of immune dysfunction-related disease states and cancer will be evaluated by analyzing blood samples taken from the crew before, during, and after spaceflight. This will help better understand changes in editing activity of these enzymes in blood stem cells due to spaceflight. This project is part of the expanded Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Reseach (ISSCOR) collaboration between the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, JM Foundation, and Axiom Space.