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The four-person, multinational Ax-1 crew has barely had any down time since they arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) over a week ago. The crew has dedicated about 14 hours each day aboard the ISS to further human knowledge on how space impacts health, the functionality of next generation technologies in microgravity, and the preparations needed to meet the demands of long-distance and long-duration space travel. Through the Ax-1 mission, the private astronauts have expanded the volume and type of research conducted on the space station, making the ISS more accessible to a broader range of individuals and organizations.

As the crew nears the end of their short-duration mission, their final days have been focused on finishing their extensive list of science- and technology-related activities. The private astronauts will soon return to Earth with critical data and insight from an array of studies that will bolster the potential for new sectors to work in microgravity and advance the low-Earth orbit economy.  

Today the crew continued gathering personal data for stress monitoring research by wearing sensors, completing a self-reporting questionnaire, and utilizing a functional testing mobile application. This project is important for understanding stress levels among crewmembers throughout their space journey.

As part of a multi-year research program exploring self-assembly methods for in-space construction, Ax-1 Commander Michael López-Alegría successfully completed all operations for TESSERAE. Named after the small tiles in ancient Roman mosaics, the modular TESSERAE tiles can join to create a larger structure. The prototypes used on the Ax-1 mission include an extensive suite of sensing and electro-permanent magnets that monitor diagnostics and provide insight into the quality of bonds between tiles. The scaled demonstration builds on previous microgravity evaluations of the TESSERAE investigation to explore a new frontier for in-orbit construction of satellites and future space habitats.

Watch yesterday’s update featuring Dr. Ekblaw as she talks about the TESSERAE experiment.

Adding to the list of successfully completed projects, Larry Connor wrapped up the final operations for the aging and heart health study. In coordination with the Mayo Clinic, his work will contribute to the understanding of cellular senescence and its causes, potentially leading to clinical trials for diseases related to cellular aging, including cancer.

Eytan Stibbe proceeded to collect daily images for the Nano ISS Antenna, which is a unique deployable reflector antenna for high-bandwidth communications. Two more image collections will be conducted to finish this test.  

Stibbe completed work for the AstroRad Vest investigation. The vest was created to protect astronauts from radiation in space as they travel beyond low-Earth orbit. This vest will help mitigate the effects of solar particle events by utilizing selective shielding to maximize efficiency and minimize impacts to ergonomics.

In addition, Stibbe performed additional sessions of the ILAN-ES project to study electrical phenomena above thunderstorms, known as Transient Luminous Events (TLE). Observing these events from space will be compared with imagery taken of the same events from the ground to enhance understanding of what is happening between the upper and lower atmosphere.

Mark Pathy continued his work on the Earth Observation study by gathering images from the Cupola. By using the collection of images taken and comparing images in the database of astronaut handheld photography, researchers from Western University in London, Ontario, Canada plan to analyze and present a pictorial review of the impact of human and natural pressures on our terrestrial ecosystem.

Each day the crew is making considerable progress in completing the more than 25 experiments brought aboard with them on the ISS. Their efforts and hard work on the collection of studies will ultimately impact understanding of human physiology on Earth and in-orbit, as well as establish the utility of novel technologies that could be used for future human spaceflight pursuits and the design for our future homes away from Earth, beginning with Axiom Station.

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