Plant Growth Chamber Developed for NASA by Tupperware and Techshot Launching on SpaceX CRS-14
— Companies team up to help improve plant production in space —
An improved system for growing plants in space, developed for NASA by Tupperware Brands and Techshot Inc., is expected to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) April 2 aboard a commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Techshot Artificial Gravity Machine to Launch Aboard SpaceX CRS-14
— Device reproduces Earth, Moon, Mars gravity to aid research aboard International Space Station –
A new privately-owned and operated device designed to conduct research in space at varying gravity levels with a wide variety of sample types – such as tissue chips, plants, fish, cells, protein crystals, worms and flies – will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the next SpaceX cargo resupply mission. Expected to launch April 2 from space launch complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, SpaceX CRS-14 will carry the Techshot Multi-use Variable-gravity Platform (MVP), which can produce artificial gravity in 0.1 g increments, up to a maximum of 2.0 g.
SpaceX Cargo Dragon Spacecraft to Deliver Techshot Research Equipment to the International Space Station
— Device will conduct regenerative medicine experiments in space —
Onboard the next SpaceX cargo spacecraft launching to the International Space Station (ISS) from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center will be a commercial research system owned and operated by Techshot Inc. The equipment will conduct regenerative medicine experiments onboard the station before returning to Earth in the same capsule for a splashdown off the coast of Southern California approximately 30 days later.
Two high-tech companies have teamed up to develop a space hardened 3D bioprinter capable of manufacturing human organs and tissues in orbit. A June 14 test of the consortium’s prototype resulted in the first successful printing of cardiac and vascular structures in zero gravity with adult human stem cells. The experiment was performed 30,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico aboard a Zero Gravity Corporation aircraft capable of repeatedly producing several seconds of sustained microgravity.
Led by longtime NASA contractor Techshot Inc. – along with nScrypt Inc., a manufacturer of industrial 3D bioprinters – the effort could result in the ability to manufacture transplantable organs in space for patients on earth, and help enable long-duration human exploration of deep space.
Techshot has invented a process for manufacturing large human blood vessels using a patient’s own stem cells. Developed with $1.15 million in funding from two consecutive R&D contracts from the Pentagon’s Defense Health Program, the method produces vessels that are expected to initially benefit soldiers with severe injuries to their extremities. Soon after, they should to be available to anyone who, through trauma or disease, needs replacement arteries and/or veins.
“The widespread use of high explosives in current nontraditional battlefields has led to significant increase in extremity injuries,” said Techshot Chief Scientist Eugene D. Boland, Ph.D. “In 2011, it was reported that sixty seven percent of wounds were to the limbs, with severe soft-tissue, bone and vascular injuries. And because most suffered multiple injuries, autologous, or “spare” vessels harvested from the patient’s own uninjured arm or leg, were unavailable which led to high amputation rates.”
Say hello to Dustin Kost and Krystal Milliner, Techshot’s new mechanical engineering technicians.
Techshot has hired Chrisopher Radnovich to serve as a software engineer. Radnovich earned his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.
Techshot Inc. has developed the first X-ray system for the International Space Station (ISS). Known as the Bone Densitometer, the device is expected to launch to the station aboard a commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft in summer 2014, where it will be used by astronauts to study bone loss in mice.
“NASA is our oldest customer,” said Techshot Executive Vice President and COO John Vellinger. “For more than 25 years, the agency has counted on us to develop tools it uses to conduct research in space. Nothing like the Bone Densitometer has ever flown before, and we deeply appreciate the trust that’s been placed in us.”
This is a video of the first test of the Techshot High Pressure Specimen Chamber (HPSC) with a deep sea submersible at Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory in Honolulu. The HPSC is designed to retrieve animals from as deep as 2,000 meters (6,280 feet) under the sea and safely bring them to the surface, while maintaining conditions that sustain life and maximize research laboratory data gathering.
Techshot Chief Scientist Dr. Eugene Boland’s remarkable work in wound healing with stem cells and extracellular matrices is discussed in the September 14 issue of New Scientist magazine. Click to read the article.