NASA Science – Flying AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response) on Artemis II

A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response
A small experiment flying aboard Artemis II that could lead to big impacts in healthcare, both for astronauts in space and citizens on Earth.

Biological & Physical Sciences Investigation:

AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response)

The AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response) investigation will use organ-on-a-chip devices, or organ chips, to study the effects of increased radiation and microgravity on human health.

NASA’s organ chip research will study how different space stressors affect tissue before sending the first humans —Americans — to Mars. It could provide valuable information for developing measures to protect astronaut health on their journeys, such as personalized medical kits.

Lisa Carnell

NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division

ARTEMIS Science

Taking Personalized Medicine to New Heights

AVATAR is a collaboration between NASA, multiple government agencies, and industry partners that seeks to gain a deeper understanding of human biology and disease, preventative measures, and personalized therapeutic treatments.

Artemis Science: AVATAR

What Are Organ Chips?

Organ chips are roughly the size of a USB drive and could be used to predict how an individual might respond to a variety of stressors, such as radiation or medical treatments, including pharmaceuticals. Made with human cells, the chips mimic how tissues, such as the brain, heart, liver, or dozens of other organs, work. NASA research will focus on validating and leveraging these models to assess the impacts of deep space stressors on astronauts’ health.  

Organ chips could help ensure crew health on long-duration missions by determining individualized responses to deep space stressors and personalizing medical kits to future astronauts.

This research, combined with other studies on the health and performance of Artemis II astronauts, will give NASA insight into how to protect astronauts as exploration expands to the surface of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

ORGAN CHIP RESEARCH

Why We Study Bone Marrow

The AVATAR organ chips will contain bone marrow tissue developed from the cells of Artemis II astronauts. Bone marrow is responsible for producing red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. This makes marrow an ideal sample for diagnosing diseases and gauging how a person’s immune system responds to treatments.

Investigating how radiation affects the bone marrow can provide insights into how radiation therapy and other DNA-damaging agents, such as chemotheraputic drugs, impair blood cell formation. Its significance for both spaceflight and medicine on Earth makes the bone marrow an ideal organ to study in the Artemis II AVATAR project.

Artemis Science: AVATAR
A Passenger for Research

When the organ chips return from their Artemis flight, researchers will examine how spaceflight affected the bone marrow chips by performing single-cell RNA sequencing, a powerful technique that measures how thousands of genes change within individual cells.

For NASA, this research could provide critical information about how each astronaut responds to the unique conditions of space and inform the development of countermeasures and personalized medical kits for future missions. For other government agencies and health organizations, AVATAR could contribute to advances in safer and faster drug testing, and personalized medicine on Earth.

(Photo Credit: Emulate)

Artemis Science: AVATAR
A Passenger for Research

The Power of Partnerships

AVATAR is a collaborative effort between NASA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the National Center for Advancing Translational (NCATS) — which is part of National Institutes of Health — and industry partners Space Tango and Emulate.

For NASA, this research could provide valuable information about how each astronaut responds to the unique conditions of space and inform the development of countermeasures and personalized medical kits for future missions. For other government agencies and health organizations, AVATAR could contribute to advances in safer and faster drug testing, and personalized medicine on Earth.

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Making Big Strides in Precision Health Care 

Since organ chips are made directly from human cells, they are considered more accurate models for comparing scientific and biomedical data. They can be used to understand how and why the human body adapts to changes in the spaceflight environment and other extreme conditions. 

Organ Chips: Avatars for Human Health

Organ chips have been used on Earth and in space to study many other human organs and tissues, including the brain, liver, heart, lung, and many more

Biological & Physical Sciences Division

NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by using space environments to conduct investigations not possible on Earth. Studying biological and physical phenomenon under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth.