BIOASTEROID IS AN EXPERIMENT TO STUDY WHETHER WE CAN USE
MICROORGANISMS, BACTERIA, OR FUNGI TO EXTRACT ECONOMICALLY
INTERESTING ELEMENTS FROM ASTEROID MATERIAL.
IT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE WOULD CALL A BIOMINING EXPERIMENT.
AND WE HOPE TO LEARN WHETHER WE CAN USE MICROBES TO
EXTRACT THINGS LIKE RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS AND OTHER ELEMENTS
THAT CAN BE USED TO SUSTAIN A SELF-SUSTAINING HUMAN PRESENCE
THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
IN OTHER WORDS MINING IS SUPPORT OF THE LONG-TERM
HUMAN EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT OF SPACE.
BIOASTEROID IS BASICALLY THE NATURAL
FOLLOWING UP OF BIOROCK.
SO WHILE WITH BIOROCK WE FIRST INVESTIGATED TERRESTRIAL ROCKS
WITH THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BACTERIA WITH BIOASTEROID
WE ARE GOING TO USE REAL EXTRATERRESTRIAL ROCKS THAT
IS GOING TO BE ASTEROID, OF COURSE, AND THE TWO DIFFERENT
TYPES OF MICROORGANISMS.
ONE IS A BACTERIUM AGAIN THAT WAS USED ALREADY WITH
BIOROCK AND THE SECOND ONE IS GOING TO BE A FUNGUS,
A PENICILLIUM FUNGUS.
THE BIOROCK EXPERIMENT DEMONSTRATED THAT WE WERE
ABLE TO USE BACTERIA TO EXTRACT RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS
WHICH ARE USED IN YOUR MOBILE PHONES AND ELECTRONICS FROM
BASALT, WHICH IS AN ANALOG MATERIAL FOR WHAT MUCH OF
THE MOON AND MARS IS MADE UP.
AND BIOASTEROID IS GOING TO FOLLOW THAT UP BY SAYING,
WELL, OKAY, NOW WE CAN SHOW THAT WE CAN GET RARE-EARTH
ELEMENTS OUT OF BASALT ON THE MOON AND MARS, CAN WE DO
BIOMINING ON ASTEROIDS AS WELL?
SO WE'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT WHETHER THOSE
MICROBES CAN GET ELEMENTS WE'D REALLY LIKE TO USE IN
INDUSTRY FROM THE SURFACE AND INTERIOR OF ASTEROIDS.
EXPERIMENTS SUCH AS BIOROCK AND BIOASTEROID
CAN REALLY HELP DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE, A SUSTAINABLE
FUTURE OF HUMANS IN SPACE.
HERE ON THE GROUND.
IF YOU GO TO A HOSPITAL OR A CLINIC AND YOU HAVE A MEDICAL
PROBLEM, LIKE AN INFECTION, YOU OFTEN GET A BLOOD TEST
CALLED A WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT AND DIFFERENTIAL.
THAT'S A CAPABILITY WE DON'T HAVE RIGHT NOW IN SPACEFLIGHT.
SO FOR EXPLORATION MISSIONS, WHEN WE WANT TO GO TO THE MOON
AND MARS, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE OUR ASTRONAUTS AND
MAKE THEM MORE SELF-SUFFICIENT AND MORE CAPABLE ON THEIR OWN.
SO OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO TEST OUT THIS DEVICE THAT CAN BE
USED FOR CLINICAL MEDICINE IN SPACE SO THE ASTRONAUTS
CAN DIAGNOSE AND TREAT THEIR OWN MEDICAL PROBLEMS.
THE DEVICE THAT WE'RE USING WAS DEVELOPED ON THE
GROUND UNDER THE GRAVITY CONDITIONS OF EARTH.
AND WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO ON THE SPACE STATION
IS DEMONSTRATE THAT IT CAN STILL WORK IN THE
ABSENCE OF GRAVITY.
SO AS FLUIDS MOVE AROUND WITHIN THE MACHINE AND IT
DOES ITS BLOOD ANALYZING WORK, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE
THOSE FLUIDS MOVE PROPERLY IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT.
OUR GOAL IN THIS WORK IS REALLY TO TRY AND EXPAND WHAT
WE CAN DO IN SPACE FLIGHT FROM A MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE,
BECAUSE WHEN WE SEND PEOPLE TO MARS AND SOMEONE GETS SICK
ON THE WAY TO MARS, WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THEM,
WHERE THEY ARE INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON BEING ABLE TO GET
THEM BACK TO EARTH QUICKLY.
WE ARE SENDING BRAIN ORGANOIDS TO THE SPACE STATION.
A BRAIN ORGANOID IS A MINIATURIZED VERSION OF
DEVELOPING HUMAN BRAINS.
SO THIS REALLY MIMICS THE EARLY STAGES OF A
HUMAN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT.
OUR FIRST MISSION WAS TO TEST IF THE BRAIN ORGANOIDS COULD
ACTUALLY SURVIVE INTO THIS MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT.
THE SECOND MISSION HAS TWO MAIN GOALS.
THE FIRST ONE IS A VALIDATION OF THE FIRST MISSIONS, BUT
WE ARE ALSO ADDING A MORE MECHANISTIC EXTRAPOLATION
OR INSIGHTS WHERE WE ARE GOING TO BE MANIPULATING THE
TELOMERES ACTIVITY INSIDE THESE BRAIN ORGANOIDS.
THESE BRAIN ORGANOIDS ALTHOUGH THEY ARE HUMAN MODELS.
SO THEY HAVE A GREAT POTENTIAL TO STUDY HUMAN DISORDERS
THEY ARE ACTUALLY MIMICKING THE VERY EARLY STAGES OF
THE HUMAN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT.
THERE IS FOR US NO WAY TO DO THIS TYPE
OF RESEARCH ON EARTH.
SO WE WILL REALLY NEED TO GO OUT THERE IN
SPACE TO SEE WHAT'S THE IMPACT OF MICROGRAVITY.
BEING ABLE TO PERHAPS ACCELERATE THESE BRAIN
ORGANOID MATURATION COULD HELP US MAKE BETTER HUMAN
MODELS FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS, FOR WHICH FOR
MOST OF THEM, WE DON'T HAVE ANY TREATMENTS OR CURES.
WHAT MAKES ME REALLY EXCITED ABOUT SPACE IS THE POSSIBILITY
TO IMPROVE DISEASE MODELS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO
FUTURE HUMAN SPACE TRAVEL MISSIONS OR COLONIZATION
AND OTHER PLANETS.
THIS MIGHT SEEM LIKE SCIENCE FICTION, BUT I FEEL THAT
THAT THE MOMENT IS REALLY POSITIVE RIGHT NOW FOR
THIS KIND OF RESEARCH.
THE STUDY THAT WE DID ABOUT FIVE, SIX YEARS
AGO, WE SENT UP IPS CELL-DERIVED CARDIOMYOCYTES.
THERE'S A FEW THINGS THAT MAY HAVE MADE ME GASP OUT LOUD
UP ON BOARD SPACE STATION.
SEEING THE PLANET WAS ONE OF THEM, BUT I GOT TO SAY
GETTING THE CELLS IN FOCUS AND WATCHING HEART CELLS
ACTUALLY BEAT HAS BEEN ANOTHER PRETTY BIG ONE.
FOR THIS PARTICULAR STUDY, WE'RE GOING TO GO ONE STEP
FURTHER TO MAKE IT RESEMBLE MORE OF A HUMAN HEART,
MEANING THAT NOT JUST THE CARDIOMYOCYTES, BUT WE'RE
SENDING IT IN A CHUNK OF THE HUMAN HEART TISSUE
THAT HAS CARDIOMYOCYTES, THE FIBROBLASTS AND
THE ENDOTHELIAL CELLS.
WE PUT THE THREE CELLS TOGETHER TO FORM WHAT WE CALL
3D ENGINEERED HEART TISSUES AND OUR PLAN IS TO SEND THESE
CONTRACTING 3D ENGINEERED HEART TISSUESS UP TO SPACE
SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT OF MICROGRAVITY
ON CARDIAC FUNCTION IN HUMAN HEART TISSUE.
THIS IS THE SCAFFOLD THAT HOLDS THE
ENGINEERED HEART TISSUES.
SO ONE SCAFFOLD CONTAINS FOUR OF THESE TISSUES
WHEN THEY ARE BEATING.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT THE HUMAN EVOLUTION TOOK PLACE
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THIS UNSEEN FORCE THAT IS GRAVITY.
AND IF YOU TAKE THAT FUNDAMENTAL FORCE OUT, IT
IS SOMETHING THAT THE CELLS HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED BEFORE.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF CHALLENGES, AND WE ARE GLAD
TO BE A PART OF A TEAM THAT OFFERS SOLUTIONS AT EVERY STEP
OF THE WAY, THAT HAS MADE US TO GET TO THIS POINT WHERE
WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT OUR SCIENCE IS GOING TO PUSH THE
FRONTIERS OF CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
OUR RESEARCH IS DEVOTED TO THE PROBLEM OF RESOLVING
THE DAMAGE THAT MAY BE CAUSED BY MICROMETEORITES
AND SPACE DEBRIS ON MANMADE OBJECTS IN SPACE.
WE ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER WE CAN USE THE OLD
TECHNOLOGY CALLED BRAZING TO EXECUTE THE PROCESS IN
REAL TIME AND IN SITU, BUT BEFORE WE GO INTO DEVELOPMENT
OF THE TECHNOLOGY, WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE PHYSICS
OF THE PROBLEM AND THAT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS
REQUIRES EXPERIMENTATION UNDER BOTH TERRESTRIAL AND
SPACE MICROGRAVITY CONDITIONS.
WE ARE BUILDING THE EXPERIMENTAL SAMPLES, WHICH
ARE GOING TO BE DELIVERED TO THE SPACE STATION AND THEN
USED IN THE EQUIPMENT THAT IS ALREADY IN THE SPACE STATION.
IN PARALLEL, WE ARE REPEATING EXACTLY THE SAME
SET OF EXPERIMENTS UNDER TERRESTRIAL CONDITIONS,
PERFORMING THE SAME SET OF ANALYSIS, COMPARING THE
TWO AND CONCLUDING WHETHER OR NOT THERE ARE IMPORTANT
DIFFERENCES RELATED TO THE IMPACT OF GRAVITY OR NOT.
WE ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER THE
SAME PHENOMENON THAT WE OBSERVED UNDER TERRESTRIAL
CONDITIONS CAN TAKE PLACE UNDER SPACE CONDITIONS.
MY NAME IS BROCK HOWE.
I'M PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE NANORACKS AIRLOCK
THAT YOU SEE BEFORE US.
THIS IS THE, GOING TO BE THE FIRST COMMERCIAL MODULE
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, DESIGNED AND
BUILT HERE AT NANORACKS.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE AIRLOCK FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS.
IT'S GOING TO BE A NEW AIRLOCK TO THE SPACE
STATION, SIMILAR IN USE AS THE JAPANESE AIRLOCK.
BUT THIS ONE'S ABOUT FIVE TIMES THE SIZE OF
THE JAPANESE AIRLOCK.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCIENTISTS TO DO WORK AND BE CREATIVE
WITH THE AIRLOCK ARE A MYRIAD OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
ONE OF THE PRIMARY THINGS IS DEPLOYING OBJECTS OFF
OF THE SPACE STATION.
NANORACKS DOES THAT ON THESE SMALL CUBESAT
TYPE FORMAT RIGHT NOW.
THE AIRLOCK WILL PROVIDE A CAPABILITY OF MUCH LARGER,
LARGER VOLUMES OF THOSE TYPES OF PAYLOADS TO BE
DEPLOYED OUT INTO SPACE.
WE ALSO HAVE EXTERNAL PAYLOAD MOUNTS WHERE WE CAN HOST
PAYLOADS ON THE AIRLOCK.
WE CAN ALSO HOST PAYLOADS INSIDE THE AIR LOCK WHILE IT'S
STILL BIRTHED TO NODE THREE.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS THAT
THE SCIENTISTS CAN USE.
A LOT OF DIFFERENT VOLUMES THAT SCIENTISTS CAN USE,
A LOT OF DIFFERENT PAYLOAD POWER AND DATA CAPABILITIES
ONBOARD THE AIRLOCK THAT REALLY WILL ENHANCE THEIR
ABILITY TO DO SOME REALLY COOL SCIENCE ON BOARD ISS.
THE AIRLOCK ALSO REPRESENTS FOR NANORACKS THE NEXT STEP
TOWARDS OUR GOALS, WHICH ARE COMMERCIAL SPACE STATIONS.
SO THIS PROVIDES A LOT OF CAPABILITIES TO ENHANCE OUR
ENGINEERING CAPABILITIES AND OUR FABRICATION CAPABILITIES
WITHIN OUR COMPANY, TO BE ABLE TO GET TO THOSE END GOALS OF
COMMERCIAL SPACE STATIONS.