This image was captured just after the first stage separated during the Crew-11 mission to the ISS. On the left, the Falcon 9 rocket that carried the crew is seen falling back to Earth. On the right, the second stage is still attached to the cabin where the crew is. (Image courtesy of SpaceX)
There is currently a secret extra member of Crew-11 on board the International Space Station: pathogenic bacteria.
Or at least, those bacteria will soon begin to thrive in an orbiting laboratory. Researchers at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, together with the American space company SpaceTango, have designed an experiment that will study how microgravity affects the growth of certain strains of bacteria that cause diseases in humans. To do this, the scientists will cultivate different strains of bacteria in microgravity, freeze them at -80 degrees Celsius, and then return the samples to Earth to see how their development differs from the growth of the same bacteria on their home planet.
The bacteria strains include E. Coli, Salmonella bongori, and Salmonella typhimurium. They were sent to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA's Crew-11 mission, which SpaceX successfully launched on Friday, August 1. (Editor's note: The Crew-11 crew docked with the ISS on August 2 and is now acclimating to life in orbit.)
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Sourse: www.livescience.com
