impacts beyond the field of space research into traditional areas of science in multidisciplinary
ways that no Earth-based laboratory has done. Yet much like a typical laboratory on Earth, the
logistics of the ISS allows for many investigations to be carried forward over several ISS crew
expeditions, enabling repeated experimentation and data collection that traditional science
calls for. One example of this is the Seedling Growth-1 (SG-1) joint NASA-ESA experiment that
was implemented as an extension of the earlier Tropi-1 and Tropi-2 plant growth experiments
that first confirmed the existence red-light based phototropism in roots and hypocotyls of
seedlings. Researchers were able to capitalize on Tropi results in the SG-1 design by improving
different lighting conditions, decreasing seed storage time, and adding real-time seedling
observation through improved image downlink [4].
The results from ISS have so far yielded updated new insights into how to better live and work
in space, such as addressing radiation effects on crew health [4], combating bone and muscle
loss [1, 7], improving designs of systems that handle fluids in microgravity [12], and how to most
efficiently maintain environmental control [15]. Latest examples of the ISS utilization
applications relevant to our life on Earth is published in the second edition of the ISS Benefits
for Humanity, which documents several tangible benefits that have resulted from ISS utilization
in areas of Earth Observation and Disaster Response, Human Health, Global Education,
Innovative Technology, and Economic Development of Space [2]. These benefits include such
examples of how space-based research leads to improvements in therapies for balance
disorders [2, 16] and contributions to improvements in smart fluids for advanced braking systems
and earthquake dampening devices [2, 6]. ISS results also show promise in diverse applications
such as medicine [2, 10] and global maritime tracking [11] and have advanced our knowledge of
our planet’s health while also contributing to disaster response efforts [2 , 13, 9, 8]. With all its
diversity, the ISS continues to inspire millions of students in ways that only space can [14, 5, 3].
The ISS offers a unique platform for science with critical capabilities not available anywhere
else. It provides long-duration microgravity exposure, thermosphere exposure, and external
environment exposure for material observations at high inclination, altitude, and velocity. The
microgravity environment of the ISS allows scientists to observe unique behaviors that are
otherwise masked by gravity on Earth, such as thermocapillary and fluid flows, protein crystal
growth, flame structures, and the structure of living cells. The ISS platform also provides access
to extreme heat and cold cycles, ultra vacuum, atomic oxygen, and high-energy radiation.