A suite of NASA-backed biology investigations is set to head to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-35) mission, launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The cargo includes studies designed to sharpen understanding of how living systems respond to microgravity—work that NASA says is intended to protect astronaut health on long-duration flights while also generating insights with potential value on Earth.
The research portfolio, led through NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division, spans four main areas: miniature 3D brain tissue models, plant disease progression in space-grown crops, a rapid in-orbit health testing tool, and continued surveillance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria aboard the station.
One of the investigations tackles a high-stakes unknown for exploration medicine: how the human brain changes in space. Researchers are sending small, lab-grown models of human brain tissue to orbit for a five-week stay. After flight, those space-exposed tissues will be compared with matched samples kept on Earth. By measuring differences at the cellular level, the team aims to identify how short bouts of spaceflight stress may affect brain biology—knowledge that could inform countermeasures for crews traveling to the Moon and, eventually, deeper into the solar system.
A second study focuses on “space crops,” asking whether plant diseases can advance faster or become more severe in microgravity. The experiment examines plants infected with a disease-causing fungus, comparing molecular and structural changes in specimens grown on the station with infected plants cultivated under Earth gravity. Beyond the immediate goal of safeguarding future space harvests, the results could help breeders develop crops with improved disease resistance for farms on Earth, potentially reducing losses caused by pathogens.
NASA has increasingly emphasized the role of plants in sustaining crews far from home. In addition to providing fresh food and variety in the diet, crops can support astronaut well-being during long missions. They also take up carbon dioxide, release oxygen, and help recycle water—functions that become more important as missions venture farther from Earth and resupply opportunities diminish.
Also aboard CRS-35 is the first in-space trial of a compact microplate reader that was delivered to the station earlier this year. The device is being evaluated through NASA’s Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science initiative to see how well it can detect and quantify biomarkers including antibodies, antigens, and proteins. If successful, astronauts could analyze biological samples on orbit and get results quickly, rather than waiting for specimens to be returned to Earth. NASA’s long-term aim is faster detection of infections and other health issues during missions where rapid clinical decisions may be necessary and sample return is impractical.
The final investigation marks the fourth and last planned station deployment of a precision health effort tracking antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Astronauts will repeatedly swab and sample station surfaces to monitor how drug-resistant organisms persist and change in microgravity. The work is intended to guide strategies that reduce infection risks for crews on extended expeditions. On Earth, the findings may also contribute to understanding how resistant “superbugs” emerge—a problem driven in part by antibiotic overuse.
NASA says its Biological and Physical Sciences Division uses the space environment to run studies that are difficult or impossible to conduct on the ground, building fundamental knowledge needed to “go farther and stay longer” in space while delivering benefits back home.
Why it matters
As human spaceflight shifts toward longer missions, health threats such as neurological stress, infection, and food-system failures move from theoretical to operational risks. These experiments aim to deliver practical tools—like faster onboard diagnostics—and basic biological data that could shape astronaut medical protocols and crop design. Researchers will be watching for clear differences between space-flown and Earth controls, and for signs that microgravity changes how pathogens and resistant microbes behave.