Editing International Space Station (section)

===Scientific research===
{{Main|Scientific research on the International Space Station}}
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| caption1          = [[C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)|Comet Lovejoy]] photographed during [[Expedition 30]]
| image2            = ISS-08 Michael Foale conducts an inspection of the Microgravity Science Glovebox.jpg
| caption2          = [[Michael Foale]] conducts an inspection of the [[Microgravity Science Glovebox]] during [[Expedition 8]].
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| caption1          = Fisheye view of several labs and the Space Shuttle
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| caption2          = [[CubeSat]]s are deployed by the [[NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer]].
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The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research, with power, data, cooling, and crew available to support experiments. Small uncrewed spacecraft can also provide platforms for experiments, especially those involving zero gravity and exposure to space, but space stations offer a long-term environment where studies can be performed potentially for decades<!--<ref name="jaxa">{{Cite web|url=https://iss.jaxa.jp/iss/doc01_e.html|title=What is International Space Station?|date=19 January 2004|publisher=iss.jaxa.jp|access-date=27 May 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730041558/https://iss.jaxa.jp/iss/doc01_e.html|archive-date=30 July 2023}}</ref>-->, combined with ready access by human researchers.<ref name="10th">{{Cite press release|url=https://www3.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-296_ISS_10th_Anniversary.html|title=Nations Around the World Mark 10th Anniversary of International Space Station|last1=Trinidad|first1=Katherine|last2=Humphries|first2=Kelly|date=17 November 2008|publisher=[[NASA]]|id=08-296|access-date=6 March 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521030300/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-296_ISS_10th_Anniversary.html|archive-date=21 May 2022}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="Worldbook at NASA" />

The ISS simplifies individual experiments by allowing groups of experiments to share the same launches and crew time. Research is conducted in a wide variety of fields, including [[astrobiology]], [[astronomy]], [[physical science]]s, [[materials science]], [[space weather]], [[meteorology]], and [[Zero g#Health effects of weightlessness|human research]] including [[space medicine]] and the [[life science]]s.<ref name="NASA Fields of Research">{{cite web|date=26 June 2007|title=Fields of Research|url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/A-fieldsresearch/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123150641/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/A-fieldsresearch/index.html|archive-date=23 January 2008|publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref name="NASA ISS Goals">{{Cite web|date=26 June 2007|title=Getting on Board|url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/B-gettingonboard/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208091537/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/B-gettingonboard/index.html|archive-date=8 December 2007|publisher=[[NASA]]}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI)|url=http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/forefront/2009/ueno/index.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722111152/http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/forefront/2009/ueno/index.shtml|archive-date=22 July 2011|access-date=12 March 2011|publisher=JAXA}}</ref><ref name="esa-20110311">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Research/SOLAR_three_years_observing_and_ready_for_solar_maximum|title=SOLAR: three years observing and ready for solar maximum|date=11 March 2011|publisher=[[ESA]]|access-date=4 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131833/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Research/SOLAR_three_years_observing_and_ready_for_solar_maximum|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> Scientists on Earth have timely access to the data and can suggest experimental modifications to the crew. If follow-on experiments are necessary, the routinely scheduled launches of resupply craft allows new hardware to be launched with relative ease.<ref name="Worldbook at NASA" /> Crews fly [[List of International Space Station expeditions|expeditions]] of several months' duration, providing approximately 160 man-hours per week of labour with a crew of six. However, a considerable amount of crew time is taken up by station maintenance.<ref name="Science in School">{{Citation|url=https://www.scienceinschool.org/article/2009/the-international-space-station-life-in-space/|title=The International Space Station: life in space|last1=Hartevelt-Velani|first1=Shamim|last2=Walker|first2=Carl|last3=Elmann-Larsen|first3=Benny|date=23 November 2009|publisher=Science in School|access-date=17 February 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203232623/https://www.scienceinschool.org/article/2009/the-international-space-station-life-in-space/|archive-date=3 February 2023|issue=10}}</ref>

Perhaps the most notable ISS experiment is the [[Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer]] (AMS), which is intended to detect dark matter and answer other fundamental questions about our universe. According to NASA, the AMS is as important as the [[Hubble Space Telescope]]. Currently docked on station, it could not have been easily accommodated on a free flying satellite platform because of its power and bandwidth needs.<ref name="nasa-20110318">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/amsprocessing.html|title=AMS to Focus on Invisible Universe|date=18 March 2011|publisher=[[NASA]]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305123234/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/amsprocessing.html|archive-date=5 March 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="nasa-20090814">{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/14aug_ams/|title=In Search of Antimatter Galaxies|date=14 August 2009|publisher=[[NASA]]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114162151/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/14aug_ams/|archive-date=14 January 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> On 3 April 2013, scientists reported that hints of [[dark matter]] may have been detected by the AMS.<ref name="APS-20130403">{{Cite journal|url=https://boa.unimib.it/bitstream/10281/44680/1/2013_PhysRevLett.110.141102_positron_fraction.pdf|title=First Result from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station: Precision Measurement of the Positron Fraction in Primary Cosmic Rays of 0.5–350 GeV|last=Aguilar, M. et al. (AMS Collaboration)|date=3 April 2013|page=141102|bibcode=2013PhRvL.110n1102A|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.141102|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132812/https://boa.unimib.it/bitstream/10281/44680/1/2013_PhysRevLett.110.141102_positron_fraction.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023|journal=[[Physical Review Letters]]|volume=110|issue=14|pmid=25166975|doi-access=free|issn=0031-9007}}</ref><ref name="AMS-20130403">{{cite web|last=Staff|date=3 April 2013|title=First Result from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Experiment|url=http://www.ams02.org/2013/04/first-results-from-the-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-ams-experiment/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408185229/http://www.ams02.org/2013/04/first-results-from-the-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-ams-experiment/|archive-date=8 April 2013|access-date=3 April 2013|website=AMS Collaboration}}</ref><ref name="AP-20130403">{{Cite news|last1=Heilprin|first1=John|last2=Borenstein|first2=Seth|date=3 April 2013|title=Scientists find hint of dark matter from cosmos|agency=Associated Press|url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130403/DA5E6JAG3.html|url-status=dead|access-date=3 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510152050/http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130403/DA5E6JAG3.html|archive-date=10 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="BBC-20130403">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22016504|title=Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer zeroes in on dark matter|last=Amos|first=Jonathan|date=3 April 2013|access-date=3 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812222642/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22016504|archive-date=12 August 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="NASA-20130403">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-tv-briefing-discusses-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-results/|title=NASA TV Briefing Discusses Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Results|last1=Perrotto|first1=Trent J.|last2=Byerly|first2=Josh|publisher=[[NASA]]|id=M13-054|access-date=3 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109114859/https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-tv-briefing-discusses-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-results/|archive-date=9 November 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20130403">{{Cite news|last=Overbye|first=Dennis|date=3 April 2013|title=Tantalizing New Clues into the Mysteries of Dark Matter|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/science/space/new-clues-to-the-mystery-of-dark-matter.html|url-status=live|access-date=3 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820032900/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/science/space/new-clues-to-the-mystery-of-dark-matter.html|archive-date=20 August 2017}}</ref> According to the scientists, "The first results from the space-borne Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer confirm an unexplained excess of high-energy positrons in Earth-bound cosmic rays".{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The space environment is hostile to life. Unprotected presence in space is characterised by an intense radiation field (consisting primarily of protons and other subatomic charged particles from the [[solar wind]], in addition to [[cosmic ray]]s), high vacuum, extreme temperatures, and microgravity.<ref name="Space Microbiology">{{Cite journal|last1=Horneck|first1=Gerda|last2=Klaus|first2=David M.|last3=Mancinelli|first3=Rocco L.|date=March 2010|title=Space Microbiology|url=http://syntheticbiology.arc.nasa.gov/files/SpaceMicrobiology%20MMBR%201.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews|publisher=[[American Society for Microbiology]]|volume=74|issue=1|pages=121–156|bibcode=2010MMBR...74..121H|doi=10.1128/MMBR.00016-09|pmc=2832349|pmid=20197502|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830095643/http://syntheticbiology.arc.nasa.gov/files/SpaceMicrobiology%20MMBR%201.pdf|archive-date=30 August 2011|access-date=4 June 2011}} See Space Environment on p. 122.</ref> Some simple forms of life called [[extremophile]]s,<ref name="Beer microbes">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11039206|title=Beer microbes live 553 days outside ISS|last=Amos|first=Jonathan|date=23 August 2010|access-date=4 June 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163449/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-11039206|archive-date=11 August 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> as well as small invertebrates called [[tardigrade]]s<ref name="Waterbears">{{Cite journal|last=Ledford|first=Heidi|date=8 September 2008|title=Spacesuits optional for 'water bears'|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|doi=10.1038/news.2008.1087}}</ref> can survive in this environment in an extremely dry state through [[Desiccation#Biology and ecology|desiccation]].

Medical research improves knowledge about the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body, including [[muscle atrophy]], [[Osteoporosis|bone loss]], and fluid shift. These data will be used to determine whether high duration [[human spaceflight]] and [[space colonisation]] are feasible. In 2006, data on bone loss and muscular atrophy suggested that there would be a significant risk of fractures and movement problems if astronauts landed on a planet after a lengthy interplanetary cruise, such as the six-month interval required to [[Human mission to Mars|travel to Mars]].<ref name="JCB">{{Cite book|first=Jay|last=Buckey|title=Space Physiology|date=23 February 2006|publisher=Oxford University Press USA|isbn=978-0-19-513725-5}}</ref><ref name="newscientist-20090722">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17476-ion-engine-could-one-day-power-39-day-trips-to-mars/|title=Ion engine could one day power 39-day trips to Mars|last=Grossman|first=List|date=22 July 2009|access-date=8 January 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015103957/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17476-ion-engine-could-one-day-power-39-day-trips-to-mars/|archive-date=15 October 2023|magazine=[[New Scientist]]}}</ref>

Medical studies are conducted aboard the ISS on behalf of the [[National Space Biomedical Research Institute]] (NSBRI). Prominent among these is the [[Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity]] study in which astronauts perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts. The study considers the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in space. Usually, there is no physician on board the ISS and diagnosis of medical conditions is a challenge. It is anticipated that remotely guided ultrasound scans will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations where access to a trained physician is difficult.<ref name="nasa-adum">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html|title=Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM)|last=Boen|first=Brooke|date=1 May 2009|publisher=[[NASA]]|access-date=1 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029061057/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html|archive-date=29 October 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rao|first1=Sishir|last2=van Holsbeeck|first2=Lodewijk|last3=Musial|first3=Joseph L.|last4=Parker|first4=Alton|last5=Bouffard|first5=J. Antonio|last6=Bridge|first6=Patrick|last7=Jackson|first7=Matt|last8=Dulchavsky|first8=Scott A.|display-authors=1|date=May 2008|title=A Pilot Study of Comprehensive Ultrasound Education at the Wayne State University School of Medicine|journal=Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine|volume=27|issue=5|pages=745–749|doi=10.7863/jum.2008.27.5.745|pmid=18424650|s2cid=30566494|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fincke|first1=E. Michael|last2=Padalka|first2=Gennady|last3=Lee|first3=Doohi|last4=van Holsbeeck|first4=Marnix|last5=Sargsyan|first5=Ashot E.|last6=Hamilton|first6=Douglas R.|last7=Martin|first7=David|last8=Melton|first8=Shannon L.|last9=McFarlin|first9=Kellie |last10=Dulchavsky |first10=Scott A.|display-authors=1|date=February 2005|title=Evaluation of Shoulder Integrity in Space: First Report of Musculoskeletal US on the International Space Station|journal=Radiology|volume=234|issue=2|pages=319–322|doi=10.1148/radiol.2342041680|pmid=15533948}}</ref>

In August 2020, scientists reported that [[bacteria]] from Earth, particularly ''[[Deinococcus radiodurans]]'' bacteria, which is highly resistant to [[environmental hazard]]s, were found to survive for three years in [[outer space]], based on studies conducted on the International Space Station. These findings supported the notion of [[panspermia]], the hypothesis that [[life]] exists throughout the [[Universe]], distributed in various ways, including [[space dust]], [[meteoroid]]s, [[asteroid]]s, [[comet]]s, [[Minor planet|planetoid]]s or [[Contamination|contaminated]] [[spacecraft]].<ref name="CNN-20200826">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/world/earth-mars-bacteria-space-scn/index.html|title=Bacteria from Earth can survive in space and could endure the trip to Mars, according to new study|last=Strickland|first=Ashley|date=26 August 2020|access-date=26 August 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811171442/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/26/world/earth-mars-bacteria-space-scn/index.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref name="FM-20200826">{{Cite journal|last=Kawaguchi|first=Yuko|display-authors=et al.|date=26 August 2020|title=DNA Damage and Survival Time Course of Deinococcal Cell Pellets During 3 Years of Exposure to Outer Space|journal=[[Frontiers in Microbiology]]|volume=11|page=2050|doi=10.3389/fmicb.2020.02050|pmid=32983036|pmc=7479814|s2cid=221300151|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Remote sensing]] of the Earth, astronomy, and deep space research on the ISS have significantly increased during the 2010s after the completion of the [[US Orbital Segment]] in 2011. Throughout the more than 20 years of the ISS program, researchers aboard the ISS and on the ground have examined [[aerosol]]s, [[ozone]], [[lightning]], and [[oxide]]s in Earth's atmosphere, as well as the [[Sun]], cosmic rays, [[cosmic dust]], [[antimatter]], and dark matter in the universe. Examples of Earth-viewing remote sensing experiments that have flown on the ISS are the [[Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3]], [[ISS-RapidScat]], [[ECOSTRESS]], the [[Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation]], and the [[Cloud Aerosol Transport System]]. ISS-based astronomy telescopes and experiments include [[SOLAR (ISS)|SOLAR]], the [[Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer]], the [[Calorimetric Electron Telescope]], the [[MAXI (ISS experiment)|Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI)]], and the [[Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer]].<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" /><ref name="eol-rss">{{Cite web|url=https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/ISS_Remote_Sensing_Systems/|title=Earth Science & Remote Sensing Missions on ISS|publisher=[[NASA]]|access-date=9 December 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131526/https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/ISS_Remote_Sensing_Systems/|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref>

====Freefall====
[[File:ISS-20 Robert Thirsk at the Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer.jpg|thumb|ISS crew member storing samples]]
[[File:Space Fire.jpg|thumb|A comparison between the combustion of a candle on [[Earth]] (left) and in a free fall environment, such as that found on the ISS (right)]]

Gravity at the altitude of the ISS is approximately 90% as strong as at Earth's surface, but objects in orbit are in a continuous state of [[Free fall|freefall]], resulting in an apparent state of [[weightlessness]].<ref name="nasa-whatismicrogravity">{{Cite web|last=May|first=Sandra|date=15 February 2012|title=What Is Microgravity?|url=https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-microgravity-grades-5-8/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107174300/https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-microgravity-grades-5-8/|archive-date=7 November 2023|access-date=3 September 2018|series=NASA Knows! (Grades 5–8)|publisher=[[NASA]]}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> This perceived weightlessness is disturbed by five effects:<ref name="gravity">{{cite web|date=6 December 2005|title=European Users Guide to Low Gravity Platforms|url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Human_Spaceflight_Research/European_User_Guide_to_Low-Gravity_Platforms|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402225556/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Human_Spaceflight_Research/European_User_Guide_to_Low-Gravity_Platforms|archive-date=2 April 2013|access-date=22 March 2013|publisher=European Space Agency}}</ref>
* Drag from the residual atmosphere.
* Vibration from the movements of mechanical systems and the crew.
* Actuation of the on-board attitude [[control moment gyroscope]]s.
* [[Rocket engine|Thruster]] firings for attitude or orbital changes.
* [[Gravity-gradient stabilization|Gravity-gradient effects]], also known as [[tidal force|tidal]] effects. Items at different locations within the ISS would, if not attached to the station, follow slightly different orbits. Being mechanically connected, these items experience small forces that keep the station moving as a [[rigid body]].

Researchers are investigating the effect of the station's near-weightless environment on the evolution, development, growth and internal processes of plants and animals. In response to some of the data, NASA wants to investigate [[microgravity]]'s effects on the growth of three-dimensional, human-like tissues and the unusual [[protein crystal]]s that can be formed in space.<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" />

Investigating the physics of fluids in microgravity will provide better models of the behaviour of fluids. Because fluids can be almost completely combined in microgravity, physicists investigate fluids that do not mix well on Earth. Examining reactions that are slowed by low gravity and low temperatures will improve our understanding of [[superconductivity]].<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" />

The study of [[materials science]] is an important ISS research activity, with the objective of reaping economic benefits through the improvement of techniques used on Earth.<ref name="nasa-materials-science-101">{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad15sep99_1.htm|title=Materials Science 101|date=15 September 1999|publisher=[[NASA]]|access-date=18 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614033947/http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad15sep99_1.htm|archive-date=14 June 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> Other areas of interest include the effect of low gravity on combustion, through the study of the efficiency of burning and control of emissions and pollutants. These findings may improve knowledge about energy production and lead to economic and environmental benefits.<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" />