An astronaut’s tiny stand-in: tissue chips in space health

Before you ever set foot on a spacecraft bound for deep space, tiny replicas of your organs might make the journey first. Suspended in microgravity aboard a research mission, this organ-on-a-chip, or tissue chip, engineered from your own cells, could reveal how your body will respond to cosmic radiation and the weightlessness of space. As humanity pushes beyond Earth's orbit, our biomedical tools must evolve to meet the need.

As the scientific research director for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), I lead initiatives aimed at minimizing the health risks to astronauts venturing into deep space. NASA's Artemis mission plans will place explorers in lunar orbit and on the moon's surface, with exposure durations to space hazards greatly exceeding prior Apollo programs. In particular, the risk of long-term, cosmic radiation exposure represents an important unknown because it cannot be effectively shielded or realistically studied here on Earth or on the International Space Station (ISS) in low Earth orbit (LEO).

Space health researchers must have the tools to study the effects of long-duration and deep space exposure, as well as test ways to prevent and mitigate its negative effects, without increasing risk to crews. Tissue chips provide a safer, more efficient and potentially cost-effective way to study spaceflight risks and test countermeasures.