Space research now in Mayo's orbit
When Axiom Space launches its historic mission to the International Space Station, count on Mayo Clinic researchers to be paying close attention.
The flight, scheduled to take off Friday, will be the first all-civilian mission to the ISS. It will also represent a rare opportunity for Mayo researchers and scientists to study the crew on board as they travel through space.
Mayo is working with the crew to study signs of senescence in them, a process (and this is Mayo’s language) “where a cell ages and stops dividing, but doesn't die, so it builds up in tissues throughout the body.”
Looking for signs of senescence, according to Mayo, could help inform longer-haul trips — such as a potential mission to Mars.
"The Mars mission may be very difficult to accomplish, unless we can find ways to monitor for senescent cell burden," said Dr. James Kirkland, director of Mayo’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging.
Additionally, research will be conducted by Dr. Andre Terzic, director of Mayo’s Center for Regenerative Medicine. Terzic, according to a Mayo, will be studying how to better safeguard the heart for space travel.
The Axiom Mission 1 is scheduled to launch from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday at 10:17 a.m. CT.
During their 10-day mission, the crew will spend time conducting “outreach and commercial activities,” in addition to their research, according to Axiom. The mission is the first of several proposed flights into space as part of the company’s goal of building the first private space station.
The four civilian astronauts on the flight will be Michael López-Alegría as commander; real-estate magnate and acrobatic pilot Larry Connor as pilot; and music and sustainability entrepreneur Mark Pathy, and investor and former Israel Air Force pilot Eytan Stibbe as mission specialists.
"The net result is this will benefit, if done correctly, all mankind," said Connor, a Mayo benefactor, according to the news release.
Axiom Space plans to stream the launch live online.
Cover photo courtesy Axiom Space
