Freeze drying, oral health experiments makespeedy return from space station aboardSpaceX Dragon19 July 2021

A vial from the Lyophilization-2 investigation, whichexamines gravity's effects on lyophilization, or freeze-drying, a common method for formulatingpharmaceuticals with improved chemical and physicalstability. Credit: NASA

A suite of International Space Station scientificexperiments soon journey back to Earth aboardthe 22nd SpaceX commercial resupply servicesmission for NASA. Scientists on the ground lookforward to having their experiments back withinhours, an advantage that could provide betterresults. Dragon undocks from the space stationJuly 7.

The combination of a spacecraft redesign allowingfor faster unloading of research and thesplashdown location near NASA's Kennedy SpaceCenter in Florida makes it possible to return time-sensitive experiments to scientists much faster. Inaddition, Kennedy's Space Station ProcessingFacility is home to world-class laboratories offeringtools and workspace to collect data and analyzesamples. Scientists can look at experimentsimmediately, before gravity has a chance to fully

take effect, and follow up with more in-depthanalysis at their home labs.

"Being able to run ground controls and processflight samples at the same place using the samehardware cuts down on the variability," saysNathaniel Szewczyk, a researcher at OhioUniversity and a principal investigator for one of thereturning investigations, MME-2.

That consistency is key, notes Luciana RinaudiMarron, a co-investigator at Colgate-Palmolive forthe Oral Biofilms in Space study. "Runninganalyses on all the samples at the same timeeliminates a lot of variability of having differentpeople prepping and analyzing samples at differentplaces. It really helps eliminate sources of error."

Explore some of the quick-turn around experimentsreturning to Earth aboard the Dragon capsule:

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ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet installs MME-2, whichtests a series of drugs to see whether they can improvehealth in space and possibly lead to new therapeutictargets to examine on Earth. Credit: NASA

Keeping things cool

Lyophilization-2 examines how gravity affectsfreeze-dried materials. Formulatingpharmaceuticals using lyophilization, or freeze-drying, improves their stability and shelf life andcould enable long-term storage of medications andother resources on future long-duration spacemissions. On Earth, the process leads to formationof layers with structural differences, and thisinvestigation looks at whether gravity is the cause.

These materials will be frozen on the space station

and brought down frozen. According to principalinvestigator Jeremy Hinds of Eli Lilly and Company,timing in this process is critical. "I need to receivethem in that frozen state. If they melt, all theinformation captured in the freezing process isgone. Extended time allows anything like heat orhumidity to change the physical state of thematerial. We want the best outcome we can getfrom this experiment, and timing is a critical piece."

Results ultimately may lead to improved freeze-drying processes for the pharmaceutical and otherindustries. "It is important to do the freeze-dryingtechnique off of Earth," Hinds adds. "If we find thatconducting the process in space gives us aperformance benefit, for example, that could be keyto a future drug."

The team from Colgate Palmolive gathered for the Junelaunch of Oral Biofilms in Space aboard the SpaceX-22resupply mission. Left to right: Shengjie (Patrick) Zhai,Paul Galloway, Harsh M Trivedi, Jeffrey Ebersole, CarloDaep, Luciana Rinaudi Marron, Shawn Stephens. Credit:Colgate-Palmolive OBIS Team

Studying worms to improve health

MME-2 tests whether a series of drugs to improvecell energy and muscle efficiency can improveoverall health in space and the role of a specificmolecule in the changes in human health observedduring spaceflight. The ESA (European SpaceAgency) investigation uses C. elegans worms andexpands on previous experiments that used this

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model organism to study genetic changes in space.Many health changes seen in space resemblethose experienced with aging on the ground, andthese drugs also could lead to new therapeutictargets to study on Earth.

Open wide

Oral Biofilms in Space studies how gravity affectsthe structure, composition, and activity of oralbacteria in the presence of common oral careagents. Findings could support development oftreatments to fight oral diseases such as cavities,gingivitis, and periodontitis and provide insight intohow microgravity affects the microbiome of othersurfaces in the body. Maintaining oral health is keyon future long-duration space missions to the Moonor Mars, and the project could lead to treatmentsfor oral diseases on Earth.

The Dragon cargo ship on SpaceX’s 22nd resupplymission approaching the International Space Station withits nose cone open, revealing the hatch and forwarddocking cone. Credit: NASA

"We are looking at the molecular mechanism ofdisease and how our oral care products are able tointervene. Any molecular work is time sensitive,because you are looking at metabolites and nucleicacids and they degrade over time. So, the quickerwe get them, the less degradation occurs," says co-investigator Harsh Trivedi.

Quick turnaround also allows investigators tomodify an experiment, learning from the first roundto plan for the next, adds co-investigator CarloDaep. "We are glad to get the samples back fromthe same craft that took them up. It will be excitingto see what turns up."

Provided by NASA

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APA citation: Freeze drying, oral health experiments make speedy return from space station aboardSpaceX Dragon (2021, July 19) retrieved 6 February 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2021-07-oral-health-speedy-space-station.html

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