Special Sessions

Life science mission ops to space

Spaceflight induced regenerative deficit in the bone marrow and beyond

Many mammalian tissues have been shown to experience regenerative deficits in space. Bone was one of the first tissues observed to weaken after prolonged spaceflight. Examination of bone tissue using molecular biology techniques have revealed that a major contributor to bone tissue weakening may be dysregulation of the stem cell reservoir in the bone marrow. This stem cell population is responsible for homeostatic regeneration of the bone surfaces and for production of circulating blood cells for oxygen transport and immune response. Novel single cell RNA sequencing is beginning to reveal how the bone marrow stem cell niche is disrupted by space’s hostile environment and how this disruption affects regenerative maintenance of tissues outside the bone.

Dr. Cassandra M. Juran

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Department of Aerospace Physiology, USA

The space Omics and Medical Atlas: A Growing Resource for Multi-omic Astronaut Health Measures

Braden Tierney, JangKeun Kim, Jiwoon Park, Nadia Houerbi, Kirill Grigorev, Krista Ryon, Matt MacKay, Jon Foox, Remi Klotz, Veronica Ortiz, Namita Damle, Deena Najjar, J. Sebastian Garcia Medina, Evan E. Afshin, Laura Patras, Sean Mullane, Irina Matei, David Lyden, Min Yu, Ari Melnick, Bader Shirah, Jaime Mateus, Christopher E. Mason

Recent developments in the spaceflight sector have ushered in a renaissance for spaceflight activity, with renewed interest in establishing long-term presences in low-Earth orbit, the moon, Mars, and eventually beyond. Complicating this, however, is that omics studies are underperformed on astronauts, leaving a knowledge gap in the molecular impact of spaceflight on human physiology and downstream health consequences. To address this gap, the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) has been developed to establish a consistent set of multimodal sampling procedures and omics recommendations for profiling astronaut crews, leveraging published methods from the NASA Twins Study. The first set of participants in SOMA was SpaceX’s Inspiration4 crew. The Inspiration4 crew participated in extensive multi-omic profiling before, during, and after their 3-day mission in space, generating the most extensive omics profiling of astronauts to date.

This talk will outline details of the SOMA resource, including: (1) the full spectrum of biospecimens collected, (2) the sequencing data generated from these samples, and (3) where data from the Inspiration4 crew will be accessible to the scientific community. We collected venous blood, capillary blood, saliva, skin swabs, skin biopsies, urine, stool, and Dragon capsule swabs. From these sample sources, we performed whole genome sequencing, single-cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq, T-cell and B-cell repertoire profiling, spatially resolved transcriptomics, direct-RNA nanopore sequencing, cell-free DNA sequencing, metagenome sequencing, metatranscriptome sequencing, telomere profiling, clonal hematopoiesis assays, and proteomic assays. We are able to profile known consequences of spaceflight, such as the impact of radiation on the genome integrity, changes in immune system cell populations, and viral reactivation monitoring. Additionally, we can observe more granular changes in gene expression, proteomics, and epigenomics, the effects of which are within expected ranges for short-duration flights, but may manifest more severe dysregulation and health consequences on long-duration missions.

Dr. Eliah G. Overbey

Postdoctoral Associate, Mason Lab Institute for Computational Biomedicine, NASA Space Biology Postdoctoral Fellow, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA

MALETH Program: Life science missions from earth to low earth orbit and back

In the recent past we have seen an unprecedented advancement in the field of space science exploration, particularly in the area of life sciences. The International Space Station (ISS) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) have provided invaluable opportunities for scientists and engineers to study the effects of microgravity on human physiology and conduct research on a variety of biological systems. In Malta, we have successfully embarked on a series of missions as part of the MALETH program to space that represented our country’s first-ever missions to space. This marked a historic milestone in our nation’s space exploration journey. This program is a testament to our commitment to advancing scientific knowledge and pushing the boundaries of human exploration.

Our missions to the ISS started in 2021 on SpaceX CRS-23, followed up a year later on SpaceX CRS-25. The research involves cutting-edge research into the effects of spaceflight and microgravity on the human skin tissue microbiomes of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). All isolated bacteria are investigated by metagenomic sequencing, and human skin tissue DNA is profiled by whole genome sequencing. Published work so far has shown a small but important number of microorganisms that appear to grow and thrive more in space when compared to earth controls. This research allows further development of new medical technologies and interventions that could revolutionize healthcare on Earth and improve the quality of life for patients inflicted with DFUs and related complications. This program has also served as a stepping stone towards even more ambitious missions to deeper space, where we are currently exploring the potential for life adaptation and survival beyond Earth’s lower orbit. We are excited to continue building upon this historic program with our next mission up this month on SpaceX CRS-27 and in what promises to be a true International Collaboration between countries including the United Arab Emirates and Malta. A new joint program with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, PLEIADES – has also commenced this year to study the effects of spaceflight and microgravity on erythropoiesis and space-induced anaemia by studying blood samples from SpaceX and Polaris Dawn crew on their first mission.

As we embark on this exciting new era of space exploration, we are proud to lead the way in life sciences research and to continue to push the boundaries of human knowledge and understanding. We look forward to sharing our findings and collaborating with all other nations and organizations to solve real world problems using space as a medium.

Prof. Joseph Borg

Department of Applied Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

Public-private collaboration opportunities in lunar missions

Moderator

Serdar Turkmen

Partner at Kearney, Space Lead

Panelists

Bernhard Hufenbach

Lead of Commercialization and Innovation Team at European Space Agency (ESA)

Simone Pirrotta

Head of the Robotic Exploration Office at Italian Space Agency (ASI)

Franco Fenoglio

Head of Human Planetary Exploration Programs Unit at Thales Alenia

Christopher Allison

Senior Business Development Manager at Sierra Space

Ashvi Ilott

Principal Operation System Engineer at Surrey Space Technologies Limited (SSTL)

Nasser Alharbi

COO & Co-Founder of Space Copy 3D

Space Operations Sustainability

Moderator

Elena Siegel

Partner at Kearney, Sustainability

Panelists

Bocar A. BA

Commissioner, UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (UNBBCom) Board Advisor, World Space Sustainability Association (WSSA)

Charity Weeden

Vice President of Global Space Policy and Government Relations at Astroscale

Laith Hamad

CEO and Board Member at OneWeb-NEOM JVB

Dr John Sheldon

Partner at AzurX

STO - Special Session

To-orbit transportation, in-orbit support and on-Earth recovery of space payloads

A discussion on the emerging LEO marketplace, with its new operational challenges, from the commercial and institutional prospective and the solutions offered by new space transportation vehicles.

Co-Moderators

Cynthia Bouthot

President at Space Commerce Matters

Fabio Caramelli

Space Rider Payloads and Exploitation Manager at European Space Agency

Panelists

Dante Galli

Space Rider Programme Manager at European Space Agency

Dr. Molly Mulligan

Senior Director of Business Development
at Redwire

Roberto Provera

Director, New Initiatives and Innovation, Exploration and Science at Thales Alenia Space

Hélène Huby

CEO and Co-founder at the Exploration
Company

Vincenzo Giorgio

CEO at ALTEC

Christopher Allison

Senior Business Development Manager at
Sierra Space