This month in orbit: May’s space science

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMT
ESA Top News

Vital research into health, climate, materials and more continues with ESA astronaut Samantha...

Vital research into health, climate, materials and more continues with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and colleagues aboard the Space Station this month.

Get up to date with what was on their schedule with May's space science summary.

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti's Minerva mission continues on the International Space Station.

Investigating the ways in which microgravity affects the health of our astronauts is a very important part of research aboard the Space Station.

The team also collected data for the ongoing Muscle Tone in Space experiment, Myotones.

Astronauts train on gym equipment designed for space for at least one and a half hours a day to keep their muscles in great shape, even without gravity.

It's not just food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals that benefitted from space research this month.

The team on the International Space Station continue to build our capability to explore beyond our own planet.

On 20 May, Samantha installed sample holders for the Matiss-3 experiment, which explores the antimicrobial properties of hydrophobic surfaces in space.

Because being in space lowers astronaut immune response, keeping their environment sanitary is incredibly important; this study will give us an idea of which materials can best keep pathogens at bay.

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