issnationallab

[issnationallab]

Things That Go Bump in the Night!

The all-sky network of cameras at #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter are designed to watch the sky for fireballs but, occasionally, they catch other #spooky visitors. #Halloween

Image credit: Marshall Space Flight Center

[issnationallab]

#TacoTuesday in Space? Yep!

Who doesn't like tacos? Who wouldn't like tacos in space?

From way back in 1996, here's #NASA astronaut Franklin R. Chang-Diaz with his Tuesday treat in the galley of the space shuttle Columbia. 🚀

Fast forward to 2021 and we catch #astronaut Raja Chari and his super yummy looking #taco made with fresh chili peppers 🌶 grown right there onboard the #ISS! 🌱🚜

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei— who had the honor of conducting the first harvest of the pepper crop on October 29, 2021—gets ready for dinner with another fresh #chilipepper grown in the Advanced Plant Habitat onboard the orbiting laboratory! 🔬

This particular variety—a hybrid known as NuMex ‘Española Improved’ Pepper—has mild heat and was chosen because peppers are an excellent source of Vitamin C.

Megan McArthur, NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 flight engineer, enjoys her taco filled with fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes and artichokes, and chile peppers. #tacosrock #foodie

Why is NASA growing #plantsinspace? In addition to finding ways to feed astronauts on longer duration missions, research has shown that growing colorful plants and vegetables in space has a positive impact on the physical and psychological well-being of the crew.

Image credit: NASA

[issnationallab]

Astronauts Are Fearless!

#ICYMI - Yesterday was #NationalFaceYourFearsDay.

During a #spacewalk, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst strapped his feet to the robotic arm outside the #ISS as it was "parked" at the end of the work day. We have a love/hate feeling about this image...love the breathtaking view of Earth from 250 miles overhead, but, wow, that view leaves us a little anxious!  Image credit: ESA

[issnationallab]

Science in Space Benefits Earth Every Day!

Check out the latest issue of Upward, the official #magazine of the ISS National Lab! Inside, you'll find exciting and groundbreaking #research results that make life better right here on Earth!

https://www.issnationallab.org/upward/

[issnationallab]

Hacking in Space?

Last month, SpaceX CRS-28 delivered a new way to "fill gaps in cybersecurity testing" to the International Space Station. 🚀

Moonlighter—a mid-size nanosatellite also known as a #CubeSat 🛰developed by the Aerospace Corporation—will allow for real-time cyber security testing in orbit for the 1st time. 🐱‍👤

Come later this summer, finalists at an annual convention for hackers 🕵🏼‍♂️ will get a chance to try their skills. Learn more about Moonlighter here.

[issnationallab]

Welcome!

Welcome to the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory Tumblr page!📢 Did you know there is a national #lab in space orbiting at 17,500 miles per hour 250 miles over our home planet? 🌎 There is! And onboard the only national lab in low #Earth orbit is groundbreaking research designed to make life better back on the ground! From student-designed investigations to breakthroughs in medicine 🩺🧬 to the very first archaeological study in space, science happening in space has real impacts here on Earth!

The first ISS National Lab investigations launched to the space station back in 2013 onboard Orbital D-1 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Those three “payloads” (as we call them in the space world) were all designed by students! 👩‍🎓👨‍🎓

Just last month, 11 years later, we launched approximately 20 payloads to the ISS onboard SpaceX CRS-27 for astronauts to work on. These investigations ranged from improving our understanding of heart disease 💔 to testing materials in the harsh environment of space as an ultimate test of durability. And, as always, this research aims to benefit life back here for all of us.

So take a look around our website. We’ve got a magazine called Upward that talks about exciting results from ISS National Lab research, online content with the most up-to-date news on ISS National Lab activities, and lots of information about the groundbreaking #science 🔬we’ve been doing for the last decade. Then come back here where we’ll share more details about space-based #research and the value it provides to people on Earth. See you soon! 👋