SpaceX CRS-35 Delivers NASA’s Latest Crewed Health and Agriculture Investigations to the ISS

Critical experiments focused on human wellness, plant vitality, and drug-resistant pathogens will journey to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission, departing from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The cargo advances scientific inquiry that benefits life on Earth while preparing for future exploration.

These investigations support astronaut wellness during long-duration missions through four projects under the agency’s Biological and Physical Sciences division, including three-dimensional models of the human brain, a crop disease study, a streamlined method for assessing crew health, and an analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria aboard the station.

Miniature Brain Models, Major Implications

A cutting-edge precision health study seeks to answer a fundamental question regarding neurology in orbit: what happens to the human brain in space?

The experiment sends small, laboratory-cultured models of the human brain to the orbiting laboratory for five weeks. Researchers will compare tissue models that traveled to space against identical ones kept on Earth to determine how a short spaceflight affects the human brain at the cellular level.

The effort could deepen our understanding of how neural tissue responds to stress and help lay the groundwork for methods that counter risks to brain health that astronauts may face on future missions to the Moon and beyond.

Pursuing Disease-Resistant Space Agriculture

An agricultural investigation examines whether crop pathogens manifest more rapidly or severely under microgravity conditions.

The experiment compares molecular and structural changes between Earth-grown and space station-grown plants infected with a disease-causing fungus. The findings could guide plant breeding on Earth to produce disease-resistant crops and help minimize yield losses in future space agriculture systems.

Space crops provide nutrition, increase dietary variety, and offer psychological benefits for astronauts during extended missions. They also absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and recycle water, which will become increasingly important as human missions extend farther from Earth.

Advanced Analysis Supports Astronaut Vitality

The spacecraft also carries the first test of a compact microplate reader that arrived aboard the space station earlier this year.

The Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science initiative experiment tests the device’s ability to detect and measure certain biomarkers such as antibodies, antigens, and proteins.

Use of the plate reader would allow scientists to analyze samples aboard the space station and obtain data quickly, rather than wait for the samples to return to Earth for analysis.

Ultimately, the research aims to support the timely detection of infections and other health issues in astronauts while expanding science capabilities in remote exploration locations where resupply will be more difficult.

Monitoring Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens

A precision health investigation returns for its fourth and final planned stay aboard the space station to study how antibiotic-resistant bacteria survive and evolve in microgravity.

As part of the investigation, astronauts repeatedly sample surfaces throughout the space station to monitor for drug-resistant organisms.

The work could help develop ways to protect astronauts against bacterial infections during long-duration missions. On Earth, the findings could provide insight into how superbugs develop from the overuse of antibiotics.

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