ExoLab-8, an experiment on the International Space Station

On 20 February 2021 the Cygnus NG-15 supply mission launched to the International Space Station. It carried equipment for ExoLab-8, an experiment we took part in.

Red clover lives in partnership with Rhizobium bacteria. The bacteria form small lumps (nodules) on the plant’s roots and turn nitrogen from the air into food for the plant.

The experiment looked at how the stress of spaceflight affects that partnership. It was the first attempt to grow these root nodules on a plant like clover in near-weightless conditions (microgravity).

Our participants ran the same experiment on the ground, at the Space Lab bench, to compare with the one in space.