August 22, 2025

This Week in Space 174: Gifts From Orbit

1 hour 8 minutes

The International Space Station has been serving as a major research center in space for over 25 years, but its time is coming to an end with a planned deorbit in 2030. Should we end this expensive experiment in space, or are we squandering a $150 billion resource? Lynn Harper, the Lead for Integrative Studies at the NASA Ames Space Portal, joins us to discuss some of the amazing research taking place aboard the ISS. We've all heard about crystal growth and so forth, but how about the promising work done on cancer treatments? Or the growing of replacement retinas? Perhaps the potential breakthroughs for treating Alzheimer's disease might interest you? These and many more will be the focus of our conversation.

Headlines:

NASA Earth Science Faces Massive Cuts Under Interim Administrator Sean Duffy

James Webb Telescope Discovers New Moon Orbiting Uranus

SpaceX Gears Up for Starship Flight 10, Hopes for First Success of the Year

Main Topic: International Space Station Spinoffs & NASA's InSPA Breakthroughs

NASA's InSPA Program Pushes Space-Based Research for Terrestrial Benefits

Microgravity Research Triggers Life-Changing Advances in Medicine and Technology

Space-Grown Protein Crystals Revolutionize Cancer Treatments, Save Lives and Billions

ISS Tissue Engineering Enables Next-Generation Organ and Cell Therapies

Accelerated Disease Modeling in Space Fast-Tracks Drug Discovery for Alzheimer's, ALS, and Cancer

Space-Based Manufacturing Dramatically Improves Semiconductor and Fiber Optic Quality

The Case for Extending ISS Operations to Maintain Biomedical & Industrial Progress

Future Visions: Overlapping Space Stations and Expansion into Commercial Free-Flyers and Industrial Complexes

Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

Guest: Lynn Harper

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