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Analysis of dust samples from the Russian part of the ISS

Our study focuses on the hardiest microorganisms inhabiting the ISS in order to assess their diversity and capabilities to resist certain stresses. We specifically selected dust samples from the Russian modules that were obtained 8-10 years ago and stored since then under sealed conditions on Earth. Targeting long-time survivors and spore-forming microorganisms we assessed consequently the cultivable microbial community of these samples in order to obtain model microbial strains that could help to analyze specific adaptation towards environmental stresses such as desiccation and lack of nutrients. In this study we analyzed these microorganisms with respect to their resistance towards thermal stress and exposure to clinically relevant antibiotics. In addition we assessed the bacterial and archaeal community via molecular methods (NGS sequencing) and compared our new data with the previously derived information from the ISS microbiome.

Microbial Observatory (ISS-MO): Molecular characterization of Bacillus issensis sp. nov. isolated from various quarters of the International Space Station

As part of an ongoing effort to catalogue microbial communities inhabiting the International Space Station (ISS) crew-associated environmental samples were collected from the Japanese Kibo Russian and US research modules. Initial analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified 11 Bacillus isolates (two from Kibo Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) four from US Segment Harmony Node 2 and five from Russian Segment Zvezda module sites) all belonging to the Bacillus anthracis-B. cereus-B. thuringiensis group. Isolates were further characterized by whole genome comparative analysis. Each isolate was sequenced assembled and aligned against all members of the B. cereus sensu lato group. Based on genome size estimates (5.2 - 5.3 Mbp) strain nucleotide identity (>99.99%) and maximum likelihood phylogenetic placement all isolates were found to exhibit a very high level of similarity. With respect to gene content all isolates were inspected for cry proteins common to B. thuringiensis as well as toxins specific to B. cereus. No significant hits were found to any known cry genes while full-length matches were found for multiple B. cereus toxin genes. Finally the isolates were closely screened against B. anthracis genomes and no B. anthracis signatures were identified. Notably all isolates contained the plcR ancestral C allele and lacked significant hits to pXO1 and pXO2 plasmids and toxins. The collective results from the analysis confirm that these strains belong to a previously uncharacterized Bacillus species hereafter referred to as Bacillus issensis. The type strain is ISSFR-003T (=NRRL B-65389T= DSMZ 101676T).

ISS Expedition 04 Press Kit

Press kit for ISS mission Expedition 04 from 12/2001-06/2002. Press kits contain information about each mission overview, crew, mission timeline, benefits, and media contact information.

Microbial monitoring in the ISS-Kibo

Continuous monitoring of bacterial community structure in the ISS-Kibo. This data contains numerous sequence reads of 16S rRNA gene fragments.

Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) System data repository- International Space Station (ISS)

NASA’s Physical Sciences Research Program, along with its predecessors, has conducted significant fundamental and applied research in the physical sciences. The International Space Station (ISS) is an orbiting laboratory that provides an ideal facility to conduct long-duration experiments in reduced 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—foreign governments with space programs, such as France, Germany, and Italy.

restrictedus-pdMar 2025View details →

ISS Observations from the Cassini Cruise to Saturn

This bundle contains Cassini ISS images, metadata, and associated documentation from the cruise to Saturn--October 1997 through December 2003.

restrictednotspecifiedJun 2025View details →

Exposure to elevated relative humidity in laboratory chambers alters fungal gene expression in dust from the International Space Station (ISS)

Microbes are present in all occupied indoor environments, including the International Space Station (ISS). An unexpected ventilation system failure may lead to microbial and fungal growth that is associated with material degradation or negative health effects. There is a need for improved understanding of fungal function when exposed to moisture in indoor spaces. A de novo metatranscriptomic study was performed using dust collected from within the ISS. After returning to Earth, dust was incubated in laboratory chambers to simulate relative humidity conditions of 50%, 85%, or 100% equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) for 1-week. Changes in fungal function (gene expression) were associated with moisture exposure. Genes associated with secondary metabolism and fungal growth were significantly upregulated (p ≤ 0.001, log2FC ≥ 2) at elevated RH conditions (85% or 100% ERH). Elevated moisture conditions showed an increased expression of mycotoxin and fungal allergen genes such as Asp f 4 and Alt a 7 (log2FC ≥ 5). These results demonstrate that understanding microbial gene expression in response to elevated moisture will help improve microbial monitoring standards for confined spacecraft environments and help protect astronaut health and spacecraft integrity.

ISS Bacillus Genomes

SRA of spore forming Bacillus strains isolated from various areas of the ISS during Microbial tracking investigation

ISS Expedition 09 Press Kit

Press kit for ISS mission Expedition 09 from 04/2004-10/2004. Press kits contain information about each mission overview, crew, mission timeline, benefits, and media contact information.

Whole genome sequencing and assembly of Eukaryotic microbes isolated from ISS environmental surface Kirovograd region soil Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

The whole-genome sequences of eight fungal strains that were selected for exposure to microgravity at the International Space Station are presented here. These baseline sequences will help to understand the observed production of novel bioactive compounds.

Transcriptional profiling of roots and shoots from Brachypodium distachyon seedlings flown on the ISS

Most major cereal grain crops are monocots. Yet, most investigations of plant adaptation to the spaceflight environment have been carried out on the dicotyledonous model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. It remains unknown whether the conclusions from such studies can be extrapolated to monocotyledonous plants. To fill this knowledge gap, seedlings of three different accessions of Brachypodium distachyon (Bd21, Bd21-3, and Gaz8), a model for temperate grasses including cereal crops, were grown on the International Space Station in the Veggie hardware and on the ground in matched conditions. To synchronize germination, seedlings were grown for 24 hours in red light. Then, seedlings were grown with green/blue/red light using a 24 hour photo period for 4 additional days. At this point, seedlings were harvested and placed in room temperature RNAlater for 24 hours before being moved to -80 C for storage and later dissection into roots and shoots. This dataset features ribodepleted RNA-seq data from the Bd21, Bd21-3 and Gaz8 accessions.

Effects of 32 Days Aboard the ISS on Gastrocnemius Tendon Nanomechanics (Gastrocnemius tendon, RR-1 and Atomic Force Microscopy)

Collagen is an essential component of connective tissue and plays a crucial role in elasticity, stability, and force distribution. While the adaptations of tendon to internal stimuli have been extensively researched, the impact of environmental factors (such as microgravity) on its structure and function at the nanoscopic scale (i.e., fibril level) remains largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 32 days (d) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on murine tendon collagen fibril morphology and nanomechanics (Young’s Modulus, YM). Gastronemius tendon samples from 16wk old female C57BL/6J mice aboard NASA Rodent Research-1 underwent chemical processing and mechanical isolation. Subsequently, collagen fibrils (n equals 17) were studied via atomic force microscopy (AFM, JPK NanoWizard 4a) to compare the morphology (diameter, height) and nanomechanics (average YM) between spaceflight (SF) and ground control (GC) mouse tendon samples. The qp-BioAC-CB1 cantilever (spring constant: 0.3 N/m, tip radius: 10µm) was used under quantitative imaging mode (Qi) for all force and morphological measurements. The data from 17 micrographs (SF n equals 5; GC n equals 12) was processed via the JPK Data Processing Software (Version 6.4.5.), and finally analyzed via Gwyddion (Version 2.62). To our knowledge, this is the first investigation to use AFM QI-mode on tendon collagen fibrils after spaceflight. Mean fibril size and YM were similar between Space Flight (SF) and Ground Control (GC) mouse tendon fibrils after 32 days of space flight; these results suggest that collagen fibrils may require more time to adapt to changes in their environment, and/or more rapid changes may take place at different levels of the collagen hierarchy. This data provides valuable insights into mammalian tissue adaptations during spaceflight, and future research should continue these investigations with longer-duration missions to build a time-course of tendon adaptations to microgravity. This dataset includes results from atomic force microscopy using gastronemius tendon tissue.

Microbial Observatory (ISS-MO): Molecular characterization of Bacillus issensis, sp. nov., isolated from various quarters of the International Space Station

Genome sequencing of Staphylococcus, Burkholderia, and Ralstonia bacterial isolates isolated from the ISS

This repository holds genome assemblies for Staphylococcus, Burkholderia, and Ralstonia bacterial isolates isolated from the ISS between the years of 2006-2015. Information on the overall microbial isolation effort is stored under NASA's Life Science Data Archive experiment 13823 (https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Experiment/exper/13823). For the genomes presented here, isolates were received from NASA's Johnson Space Center and their genomes were sequenced and assembled thanks to NASA Space Biology awards to Michael D. Lee (NNH16ZTT001N-MOBE) and Aubrie O'Rourke (80NSSC17K0035).

ISS Expedition 07 Press Kit

Press kit for ISS mission Expedition 07 from 04/2003-10/2003. Press kits contain information about each mission overview, crew, mission timeline, benefits, and media contact information.

restrictedus-pdApr 2025View details →

ISS Observations from the Cassini Tour of the Saturn System

This bundle contains Cassini ISS images, metadata, and associated documentation for the Saturn tour--January 2004 through end of mission in September 2017.

Plant development on ISS differs from the development on the ground and is influenced by the genetic background

The development of Col-0 and WS plants on orbit differs from that on the ground as demonstrated by the comparison of the gene expression profiles between 4 days old to 8 days old plant in the two environments. The Col-0 plants used different genes reflecting different physiological processes than WS plants, suggesting the role of the genetic background in the developmental decisions. The 4 days old Col-0 plant in orbit showed deficit in wax and suberin production relatively to the 8 days old plants, the difference unregistered on the ground. There was more dramatic difference in the overexpression of the root system development and anatomical structure development genes in 8 days old plants than in 4 days old plant in both genotypes on the ground than in flight, implying smaller root developmental gap between 4 days and 8 days old roots in orbit. The WS plant uniquely showed overexpression of the photosynthesis related genes in the 4 days old roots relative to 8 days old root in the spaceflight environment but not on the ground. The seeds germinated in the novel growth environment of ISS implemented different developmental strategies as captured by the genes expression patterns, than seeds developing on the ground.

Microbial Observatory (ISS-MO): Molecular characterization of Bacillus issensis sp. nov. isolated from various quarters of the International Space Station

ISS Expedition 03 Press Kit

Press kit for ISS mission Expedition 03 from 08/2001-12/2001. Press kits contain information about each mission overview, crew, mission timeline, benefits, and media contact information.

Effects of 32 Days Aboard the ISS on Quadricep Tendon Nanomechanics (Quadricep femoris tendon, RR-1 and Atomic Force Microscopy)

Collagen is an essential component of connective tissue and plays a crucial role in elasticity, stability, and force distribution. While the adaptations of tendon to internal stimuli have been extensively researched, the impact of environmental factors (such as microgravity) on its structure and function at the nanoscopic scale (i.e., fibril level) remains largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 32 days (d) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on murine tendon collagen fibril morphology and nanomechanics (Young’s Modulus, YM). Quadriceps tendon samples from 16wk old female C57BL/6J mice aboard NASA Rodent Research-1 underwent chemical processing and mechanical isolation. Subsequently, collagen fibrils (n equals 38) were studied via atomic force microscopy (AFM, JPK NanoWizard 4a) to compare the morphology (diameter, height) and nanomechanics (average YM) between spaceflight (SF) and ground control (GC) mouse tendon samples. The qp-BioAC-CB1 cantilever (spring constant: 0.3 N/m, tip radius: 10µm) was used under quantitative imaging mode (Qi) for all force and morphological measurements. The data from 17 micrographs (SF n equals 23; GC n equals 15) was processed via the JPK Data Processing Software (Version 6.4.5.), and finally analyzed via Gwyddion (Version 2.62). To our knowledge, this is the first investigation to use AFM QI-mode on tendon collagen fibrils after spaceflight. Mean fibril size and YM were similar between SF and GC mouse tendon fibrils after 32 days of space flight; these results suggest that collagen fibrils may require more time to adapt to changes in their environment, and/or more rapid changes may take place at different levels of the collagen hierarchy. This data provides valuable insights into mammalian tissue adaptations during spaceflight, and future research should continue these investigations with longer-duration missions to build a time-course of tendon adaptations to microgravity. All results derived are from atomic force microscopy using quadriceps femoris tendon tissue.