NASA experiments focused on human and plant health and drug-resistant organisms will travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, advancing research that benefits life on Earth and future exploration.

This research supports astronaut health during long-duration missions through four investigations from the agency’s Biological and Physical Sciences division, including 3D models of the human brain, a crop disease study, a faster way to assess astronaut health, and an analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria aboard the space station.

Tiny brain models, big questions

A new precision health investigation helps address a key question: What happens to the human brain in space?

The experiment sends small, lab-grown models of the human brain to the orbiting laboratory for five weeks. Researchers compare tissue models that traveled to space with identical ones kept on Earth to determine how a short spaceflight affects the human brain at the cellular level.

The effort could deepen our understanding of how the human brain responds to stress and help lay the groundwork for methods that counter risks to brain health that astronauts may face on future missions to the Moon and beyond.

Disease-resistant crops for space

A space crops investigation tests whether crop diseases develop faster and more severely in microgravity.

The experiment compares molecular and structural changes between Earth-grown and space station-grown plants infected with a disease-causing fungus. The findings could guide plant breeding on Earth to produce disease-resistant crops and help minimize yield losses in future space agriculture systems.

Space crops provide nutrition, increase dietary variety, and offer psychological benefits for astronauts during extended missions. They also absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and recycle water, which will become increasingly important as human missions extend farther from Earth.

Analysis helps astronauts thrive

The spacecraft also carries the first test of a compact microplate reader that arrived aboard the space station earlier this year.

The Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science initiative experiment tests the device’s ability to detect and measure certain biomarkers such as antibodies, antigens, and proteins.

Use of the plate reader would allow scientists to analyze samples aboard the space station and obtain data quickly, rather than wait for the samples to return to Earth for analysis.

Ultimately, the research aims to support the timely detection of infections and other health issues in astronauts while expanding science capabilities in remote exploration locations where resupply will be more difficult.

Tracking antibiotic-resistant bacteria

A precision health investigation returns for its fourth and final planned stay aboard the space station to study how antibiotic-resistant bacteria survive and evolve in microgravity.

As part of the investigation, astronauts repeatedly sample surfaces throughout the space station to monitor for drug-resistant organisms.

The work could help develop ways to protect astronauts against bacterial infections during long-duration missions. On Earth, the findings could provide insight into how superbugs develop from the overuse of antibiotics.

To learn more about NASA’s biological and physical research in space, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/biological-physical/

NASA experiments focused on human and plant health and drug-resistant organisms will travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, advancing research that benefits life on Earth and future exploration.

This research supports astronaut health during long-duration missions through four investigations from the agency’s Biological and Physical Sciences division, including 3D models of the human brain, a crop disease study, a faster way to assess astronaut health, and an analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria aboard the space station.

Tiny brain models, big questions

A new precision health investigation helps address a key question: What happens to the human brain in space?

The experiment sends small, lab-grown models of the human brain to the orbiting laboratory for five weeks. Researchers compare tissue models that traveled to space with identical ones kept on Earth to determine how a short spaceflight affects the human brain at the cellular level.

The effort could deepen our understanding of how the human brain responds to stress and help lay the groundwork for methods that counter risks to brain health that astronauts may face on future missions to the Moon and beyond.

Disease-resistant crops for space

A space crops investigation tests whether crop diseases develop faster and more severely in microgravity.

The experiment compares molecular and structural changes between Earth-grown and space station-grown plants infected with a disease-causing fungus. The findings could guide plant breeding on Earth to produce disease-resistant crops and help minimize yield losses in future space agriculture systems.

Space crops provide nutrition, increase dietary variety, and offer psychological benefits for astronauts during extended missions. They also absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and recycle water, which will become increasingly important as human missions extend farther from Earth.

Analysis helps astronauts thrive

The spacecraft also carries the first test of a compact microplate reader that arrived aboard the space station earlier this year.

The Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science initiative experiment tests the device’s ability to detect and measure certain biomarkers such as antibodies, antigens, and proteins.

Use of the plate reader would allow scientists to analyze samples aboard the space station and obtain data quickly, rather than wait for the samples to return to Earth for analysis.

Ultimately, the research aims to support the timely detection of infections and other health issues in astronauts while expanding science capabilities in remote exploration locations where resupply will be more difficult.

Tracking antibiotic-resistant bacteria

A precision health investigation returns for its fourth and final planned stay aboard the space station to study how antibiotic-resistant bacteria survive and evolve in microgravity.

As part of the investigation, astronauts repeatedly sample surfaces throughout the space station to monitor for drug-resistant organisms.

The work could help develop ways to protect astronauts against bacterial infections during long-duration missions. On Earth, the findings could provide insight into how superbugs develop from the overuse of antibiotics.

To learn more about NASA’s biological and physical research in space, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/biological-physical/

Editor’s Note: This advisory was updated Oct. 8, 2026, to reflect revised timing for the Cygnus XL spacecraft’s deorbit and information about its departure.

After delivering more than 11,000 pounds of supplies, science experiments, and other cargo to the International Space Station for NASA, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft is scheduled to depart Friday, Oct. 9, as part of the company’s Commercial Resupply Services-24 mission, or Northrop Grumman CRS-24.

Watch NASA’s live coverage of departure beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Flight controllers on the ground will send commands for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the Cygnus XL spacecraft from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and maneuver it into position for release at 12:45 p.m. NASA astronaut Luke Delaney will monitor the operation from aboard the orbital complex.

Loaded with thousands of pounds of disposal items and other unneeded cargo, Cygnus XL will deorbit Monday, Oct. 12, for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will safely burn up. NASA will not provide coverage of the spacecraft’s deorbit.

The resupply spacecraft launched on April 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Learn more about this NASA commercial resupply mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-24/

-end-

Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

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