Astronomy

The ISS’s Latest Delivery Includes Pizza, a Cheese Board, and Slime Mold

The ISS’s Latest Delivery Includes Pizza, a Cheese Board, and Slime Mold

The International Space Station (ISS) is about to get a very attractive delivery. On the latest refueling mission, the seven astronauts and astronauts on the space station are ready to receive some interesting science experiments, some important cargo and some delicious supplies. Gone are the days of just permanently dry or vacuum-packed food. On August 10, Northrop Grumman launched the Cygnus Cargo spacecraft, carrying 3,700 kilograms (8,200 pounds) of fresh fruit, including apples, tomatoes and kiwis.

There’s even a pizza kit for seven and even a cheese Smörgåsbord, which made us think about how hard it is to put cheese on a platter in microgravity. It’s not just the snacks they’re getting. If you’re delivering pizza into space, you’re going to send a lot of science with it. After all, ISS is a unique lab that provides insights and testing technology that benefits both life on Earth and life in space.

Indeed, one of the new studies is Cardinal Muscle, which hopes to one day identify drugs that can treat sarcopenia. As people get older, this condition becomes more common and becomes more common. The current mission will try to create muscle tissue in microgravity if successful drugs can be tested in this tissue. There are several new technology exhibits that will enhance space travel. The four-bed CO2 scrubber is there to demonstrate a more efficient way to get oxygen back from carbon dioxide, which is important for human survival and well-being in space.

There is also a study on how to remove heat from generators more efficiently. This will be important in the future because space missions far from Earth will require more energy and thus more heat. Heat management is also the goal of the Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment (KREPE). Once the Cygnus ship is emptied of its cargo, it will be filled with debris and burned in the atmosphere.

But in that debris, there will be three spheres that will gain valuable information on how to re-enter the atmosphere and protect the spacecraft in a more efficient and cost-effective way. Another experiment to keep an eye on future explorations is the Redwire Regolith Print, which will use a material similar to the lunar soil (regolith) as a 3D printing material. This will show that this type of soil can be used in the future if things like machinery can be made directly on the moon.