We have already informed you several times about the progress of preparations for the Yeast TardigradeGene experiment, which will be conducted on the International Space Station (ISS). Today, at 8:31 a.m. Polish time, the readiness command was given and a moment later, a Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon capsule was launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), carrying Peggy Whitson (mission commander from the USA), Shubhanshu Shukla (pilot from India), Tibor Kapu (specialist from Hungary) and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (specialist from Poland/ESA) is the fourth private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) organized by Axiom Space. This is an exceptionally ambitious undertaking, as the crew will conduct a record number of scientific and technological experiments on the ISS. And one of them will be Yeast TardigradeGene prepared by a consortium of three universities: the University of Szczecin (project coordinator), Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the University of Silesia in Katowice.
Genetically modified yeast enriched with tardigrade protein has a chance of becoming the key to bioproduction of food in space. Scientists will check how they will behave in microgravity conditions and whether they can support future manned missions to the Moon and Mars.
The academic community, together with space exploration enthusiasts, has been following the crew’s launch with bated breath since morning. We keep our fingers crossed for the success of the mission and all planned scientific experiments.
