CASIS
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Defunding the ISS might just help get us to Mars
There's good news for NASA in the Trump administration's proposed FY2019 budget and some bad. On the one hand, the space agency would receive a minor funding boost -- NASA itself would get $19.9 billion, a 1.3 percent increase over 2017, while its science directorate would receive $5.9 billion, a 2.3 percent increase.
NASA channels 'Stars Wars' for its 2017 ISS mission patch
The International Space Station's mission patch for 2017 will look very familiar if you're a huge fan of that galaxy far, far away. CASIS or the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the organization that oversees all the experiments aboard the ISS, has teamed up with Lucasfilm to design the space station's Star Wars-themed annual mission patch for 2017. Since the patch is supposed to stand for all the scientific payloads already aboard and headed to the ISS within the year, Star Wars designer and concept artist Doug Chiang chose three of the franchise's newest droids to represent "the ideas of adventure, science and hope."
ISS will carry artificial organs in hope of medical breakthrough
In the near future, the International Space Station (ISS) will serve as home to five organs-on-chips research experiments. Each one will tackle a different issue, but all of them are expected to shed light on the effects of microgravity on the human body and could lead to better treatments and drugs without the need for animal testing. Organs-on-chips are transparent slides about the size of an AA battery with microfluidic channels capable of reproducing blood and airflow that are lined with the cells of the organ begin studied. Aboard the ISS, astronauts can observe the cells as they grow in 3D, since the lack of gravity means they don't settle at the bottom or flatten against the channels' plastic walls.
Engadget Giveaway: win one of two CASIS patches, signed by Shepard Fairey!
Remember CASIS, the folks in charge of granting the public access to the national lab onboard the International Space Station, who were looking for the next great research project to send into space? Well, CASIS is still in the process of choosing the most deserving from among our reader submissions, but in the meantime, it's looking to give away a pair of the mission patches -- signed by their creator, famed designer Shepard Fairey -- from the inaugural orbital experiment scheduled to arrive on the ISS this fall. To enter for a chance to win one of these exclusive bits of space history, you need only venture beyond the break to read the rules of engagement and fill out the entry form. Best of luck folks, may the force of Fairey be with you. Winners: Congrats to Ryan D. of Dunkirk, MD and Jonathan P. of Elkton, MD for winning the CASIS patches!
CASIS wants to send your research project into space, give Engadget readers $100 off the application fee
We already told you about the CASIS and MassChallenge startup accelerator partnership aiming to find the next great research project to send into space, and give that project over $100,000 to help bring it to fruition. Now, Engadget wants to help make it easier for you, dear reader, to get your idea into orbit by offering the chance to trim $100 off the $199 application fee. The process is simple: you click the source link below and fill out a short form outlining your idea and providing your contact info. Then, should CASIS like what it sees, it'll send out promo codes to ten of you to be used when submitting the full application on the MassChallenge website. Sound good? Well, hop to it folks, because CASIS is looking to deliver the promo codes by April 1st. Not that you should need much incentive to jump on the opportunity... we're talking about sending your pet project into space, after all.
Visualized: Shepard Fairey's mission patch for CASIS ARK 1 (video)
Remember those old-school NASA mission patches that spacefarers would proudly wear upon their shoulders as they bounced around the great beyond? CASIS, the agency's newly-minted non-profit wanted to commemorate its first experiment being put on the International Space Station, and so enlisted the talents of Shepard Fairey, the graphic designer behind the Obama "Hope" campaign and those Obey T-shirts. We've snagged one of the patches for our own homemade astronaut jacket, but if you aren't here at Fort Mason, you can watch the design process in the video after the break.
CASIS and the MassChallenge startup accelerator want to help you conduct research... in space!
Most folks are familiar with the International Space Station (ISS). However, what you may not know is that the national lab on board the ISS is available to anyone to conduct research, provided that research is deemed worthy enough to make the trip into orbit. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is a non-profit tasked by NASA to find and promote those worthy proposals, and it's teamed up with the MassChallenge startup accelerator to find the next great entrepreneurial space research project -- and they want YOU, dear readers to hit them with your ideas. Want to know more? Join us after the break to find out what it takes to get your research in orbit.
