Artificial retinas and mini-brains: Dragon cargo ship docks at ISS
SpaceX’s CRS-35 cargo ship is attached to the space station. On board: equipment for artificial retinas, brain organoids, heart tissue models, glass research – and the last new solar arrays.
Archive image · Photo: NASA Johnson / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo ship docked at the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 10:27 a.m. Eastern time on Oct. 15. According to NASA, SpaceX’s 35th commercial resupply mission delivered more than 6,300 pounds (about 2.9 metric tons) of food, supplies and scientific equipment for the Expedition 75 crew. The capsule launched on Oct. 13 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The focus is on experiments with medical benefits. Artificial retinas are to be produced in microgravity; researchers hope they could one day be used to restore vision on Earth. Also on board are brain organoids – tiny 3D models of brain tissue grown from cells – used to search for therapeutic targets against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis. Three-dimensional heart tissue models are intended to allow mass testing of potential drugs on spaceflights in the future. Another experiment is studying how a new type of glass forms without gravity.
Also on board are the last roll-out solar arrays (IROSA), which are intended to improve the station’s power supply; according to NASA, their installation is planned for later in the fall. Dragon is scheduled to remain docked until mid-November and then return time-sensitive research samples to Earth. The capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.