These include an acoustic technique using ultrasonic waves to move and manipulate objects or liquids without touching them.įrance's Pesquet has said his favourite planned research is a study examining the effects of weightlessness on brain organoids-mini brains created using stem cell technology. The new crew (from left to right): European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA's Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akihiko Hoshide On Thursday, US astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akihiko Hoshide and the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet will blast off for the ISS aboard the SpaceX mission Crew-2.Īlongside work to maintain the space station itself, around a hundred experiments are in the diary for their six-month mission. The latest mission-named 'Alpha' after Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own-will be no exception. 'From a science perspective, there have been some major discoveries,' said Robert Pearlman, space historian and co-author of 'Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space'. More than 3,000 scientific tests have been carried out at the ISS since its manned missions began in 2000. Often, the astronauts are also the guinea pigs.

The ISS, which orbits about 250 miles above Earth, is as large as a football field inside and divided up like a beehive into spaces where the crew can carry out experiments with guidance from researchers on the ground.

Space no gravity