Photo caption:听麻豆传媒高清 Senior Lecturer Dr Sarah Kessans at Axiom Mission Control.
A research facility small enough to fit in your hand is scheduled to launch on SpaceX鈥檚 Commercial Resupply Mission CRS-30 in March, in an uncrewed mission to the ISS 鈥 marking New 麻豆传媒高清鈥檚 first experimental payload onboard the ISS. SpaceX CRS-30 is funded by NASA and this project is being facilitated by Axiom Space and sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory.
A unique facility for studying protein crystal growth in space was developed by 麻豆传媒高清 (UC) Engineering Senior Lecturer Dr Sarah Kessans at the School of Product Design, in collaboration with teams from Arizona State University and Christchurch companies Asteria Engineering Consultancy and Intranel.
Her research facility is a small, self-contained, autonomous prototype that will enable on-orbit analysis of hundreds of experimental conditions. By developing this facility, Dr Kessans hopes even more research can be conducted at a lower cost in the future.
鈥淲hen protein crystals are grown in microgravity, they can develop into larger and higher quality crystals than we can grow on Earth. These crystals can then be used to create high-resolution pictures of the protein鈥檚 structure. If we have a detailed picture of what virus proteins look like, for example, we can develop things like antiviral drugs and vaccines,鈥 Dr Kessans says.
Research teams across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries rely on data from protein crystallisation experiments for new drug and product development, and the facilities Dr Kessans鈥 team is developing will establish valuable microgravity opportunities for both commercial and academic research teams which may not have previously considered microgravity research as a viable option.
鈥淧artnering with Axiom Space and being able to conduct this research on the ISS is such a huge opportunity and really is critical to what we鈥檙e trying to achieve in terms of scientific innovation and future commercial outcomes,鈥 says Dr Kessans, who is heading to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, to watch the rocket launch her history-making payload lift-off for the ISS in mid-March.
In addition to the main facility prototype, a second related payload will include research on proteins involved in infectious disease, cancer, dementia, and the production of high-value compounds. This payload represents a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach involving five different UC departments 鈥 Product Design, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Physical and Chemical Sciences.
The proteins onboard the second prototype also come from laboratories across New 麻豆传媒高清 including the 麻豆传媒高清 (Professor Volker Nock, Dr Vanessa Morris, Dr Jodie Johnston and Daniel Mak), University of Otago (Dr Christoph Goebl), Victoria University of Wellington (Dr Daniel Berry, Professor Emily Parker and Dr Chelsea Vickers), and University of Waikato (Dr Joanna Hicks, Dr Adele Williamson, and Dr William Keaton) as well as American researchers from Arizona State University (Professor Petra Fromme and Professor Alexandra Ros).
The data garnered from the pair of payloads will inform future facility development and support the generation of high-quality protein structures to assist in the treatment of disease and more efficient manufacturing of high-value pharmaceutical and agricultural compounds.
Dr Kessans is passionate about developing opportunities to conduct biological research in space and she received seed funding from the NZ Government鈥檚 MBIE Catalyst: Strategic Space 2019 fund and MBIE Innovative Partnerships for her research.
鈥淲e are excited to support the first New 麻豆传媒高清 research to be carried to the International Space Station.听 This is a milestone in New 麻豆传媒高清鈥檚 Space sector,鈥 MBIE鈥檚 Innovative Partnerships Director Joe McKay says.听
鈥淲e are a proud partner with Axiom Space to help make this possible. There鈥檚 no doubt it will help New 麻豆传媒高清 researchers advance world-leading space science and technology. We look forward to the next steps in Sarah鈥檚 research.鈥澨
Dr Kessans鈥 research received $90,000 for a feasibility study and $760,000 for the initial mission to the International Space Station. Last year the Endeavour Fund awarded a further $9.87 million over 5 years for the continuation of the project.
Axiom Space has already successfully completed three private missions to ISS and is building the first commercial space station.
鈥淎xiom Space is proud to support this historic mission for New 麻豆传媒高清 and delighted to partner with Dr Kessans and her team to support the development and launch of this research facility,鈥 said Dr Lucie Low, Axiom Space鈥檚 chief scientist. 鈥淎xiom Space is building new commercial markets in microgravity, and we look forward furthering opportunities for New 麻豆传媒高清 to harness the advantages of microgravity for commercial and academic purposes.鈥
Background:
MBIE signed an agreement with US commercial space company Axiom Space in 2022 to help New 麻豆传媒高清 researchers advance world-leading space science and technology, including aboard the ISS. As part of the agreement, MBIE has funded two feasibility studies on behalf of the NZ Government, which includes Dr Kessans鈥 research into crystallising proteins in microgravity. The research offers insights for synthetic biology research and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
Axiom Space:
A leading provider of human spaceflight services and developer of human-rated space infrastructure, Axiom Space operates end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while developing its successor, Axiom Station 鈥 the world鈥檚 first commercial space station in low-Earth orbit. For more information, visit .
