On Oct. 12, 2026, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that experiments focused on human and plant health and drug-resistant organisms will travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, advancing research that benefits life on Earth and future exploration.

This research supports astronaut health during long-duration missions through four investigations from the agency’s Biological and Physical Sciences division, including 3D models of the human brain, a crop disease study, a faster way to assess astronaut health, and an analysis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria aboard the space station.

A new precision health investigation helps address a key question: What happens to the human brain in space?

The experiment sends small, lab-grown models of the human brain to the orbiting laboratory for five weeks. Researchers compare tissue models that traveled to space with identical ones kept on Earth to determine how a short spaceflight affects the human brain at the cellular level.

The effort could deepen our understanding of how the human brain responds to stress and help lay the groundwork for methods that counter risks to brain health that astronauts may face on future missions to the Moon and beyond.

A precision health investigation returns for its fourth and final planned stay aboard the space station to study how antibiotic-resistant bacteria survive and evolve in microgravity. As part of the investigation, astronauts repeatedly sample surfaces throughout the space station to monitor for drug-resistant organisms.

The work could help develop ways to protect astronauts against bacterial infections during long-duration missions. On Earth, the findings could provide insight into how superbugs develop from the overuse of antibiotics.