ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS of RESULTS from the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION October 1, 2019 – October 1, 2020
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ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS of RESULTS from the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION October 1, 2019 – October 1, 2020 Product of the International Space Station Program Science Forum This report was developed collaboratively by the members of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the State Space Corporation Roscosmos (ROSCOSMOS). The highlights and citations in this report, as well as all the International Space Station (ISS) results and citations collected to date, can be found at www.nasa.gov/stationresults. Managing Editors Ousmane Diallo, NASA Pilar Archila, Barrios Technology Executive Editor Kirt Costello, NASA Cover: Image of NASA Astronaut Andrew Morgan, whose spacesuit is outfitted with a variety of tools and cameras, holds on to a handrail during a spacewalk to repair the International Space Station’s cosmic particle detector, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (iss061e058254). NP-2020-11-021-JSC Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 Publication Highlights: Biology and Biotechnology ................................................................. 9 Publication Highlights: Human Research ............................................................................... 14 Publication Highlights: Physical Science ............................................................................... 19 Publication Highlights: Technology Development and Demonstration ................................. 23 Publication Highlights: Earth and Space Science .................................................................. 27 ISS Research Results Publications .................................................. 31 To Learn More .................................................................................... 58 ISS Results Publications 100% Introduction 75% This year, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of continuous human presence on board the International Space Station (ISS), a momentous milestone for the low-Earth orbiting laboratory. 50% The ISS has been a reliable testbed for microgravity research that cannot be accomplished on Earth. This lab is where some of the most innovative concepts 25% are tested in the fields of technology development and demonstration, educational activities, biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, human research, and physical science. 0% Peer-reviewed Conference Gray Journals Papers Literature With the accomplishment of 20 uninterrupted years 1638 446 153 of humans living and working in space, we also Technology Development and Demonstration commemorate the successful cooperation among Physical Science member nations to understand and address the Human Research challenges in our quest for long-term exploration and Educational Activities and Outreach Earth and Space Science to sustain human life on the Moon and Mars in the Biology and Biotechnology coming decades. Figure 1. A total of 2850 publications (through October 1, 2020) Far more than simply preparing us for life in in represent scientists worldwide. This chart illustrates the percentages the extreme environment of space¹, microgravity for each research discipline by publication type. research on board the ISS also has served to provide breakthrough discoveries for improving the quality of journals, 20 were conference papers, and 4 were human lives here on Earth. Disciplines as varied as gray literature publications such as technical reports health care (e.g., pharmaceuticals, imaging, medical) or books. Out of the 312 items collected, 29 were and physical sciences are represented, while the space published prior to October 1, 2019, but they were not station itself serves as an observation platform that identified until after October 1, 2019. captures environmental changes and weather events. These results represent research activities sponsored In this year’s Annual Research Highlights, we report by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ISS science results from a wide range of fields, from (NASA), the State Space Corporation Roscosmos investigating ways to sustain human life in space, (Roscosmos), the Japan Aerospace Exploration such as plant seedling growth and early detection of Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the osteoporosis in space, to better understanding the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Italian Space electrostatic levitation processes and Bose-Einstein Agency (ASI). This report includes highlights of collected Condensate (BEC) Bubble Dynamics. The ISS Program ISS results as well as a complete listing of the year’s Science Office (PSO) collected 312 scientific publications ISS results that benefit humanity, contribute to scientific between October 1, 2019, and October 1, 2020. knowledge, and advance the goals of space exploration Of these, 286 were articles published in peer-reviewed for the world. ¹ Diallo, O. N., Ruttley, T. M., Costello, K., Hasbrook, P., Cohen, L., Marcil, I., ... & Karabadzhak, G. (2019). Impact of the International Space Station Research Results. The 70th International Astronautical Congress. 2019 1 As of October 1, 2020, the ISS PSO has identified Clarivate Analytics® a total of 2850 results publications since 1999, with Source (# of ISS publications) Rank by Ei- sources in peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and genfactor gray literature representing the work of more than 5000 1 PLOS ONE (3) scientists worldwide (Figure 1). Overall, this number of results publications represents a 17% increase from a 3 Scientific Reports (4) year ago. 4 Nature (1) The ISS PSO has a team of professionals dedicated to continuously collecting and archiving research results 5 Science (1) from all utilization activities across the ISS partnership. Proceedings of the National The archive can be accessed at www.nasa.gov/iss- 6 Academy of Sciences of the United science. This database captures ISS investigations States of America (1) summaries and results, providing citations to the 11 Physical Review Letters (3) publications and patents as they become available at www.nasa.gov/stationresults. 22 The Astrophysical Journal (19) Monthly Notices of the Royal 28 MEASURING SPACE STATION IMPACTS Astronomical Society (10) Because of the unique microgravity environment of the 37 Circulation (1) ISS laboratory, the multidisciplinary and international nature of the research, and the significance of the 46 Astronomy and Astrophysics (2) ISS Publications In Top 100 Sources ISS Publications In Top investment in its development, analyzing ISS scientific 49 Science Advances (2) impacts is an exceptional challenge. As a result, the ISS PSO uses different methods to describe the impacts of 58 Frontiers in Microbiology (3) ISS research activities. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 67 One method used to evaluate the significance of (1) scientific output from the ISS is to track article citations 95 Frontiers in Plant Science (5) and the journal’s Eigenfactor ranking across the ISS partnership. Since different disciplines have different Table 1: 2019-2020 ISS Publications collected in the Top 100 Global standards for citations and different time spans across Journals, by Eigenfactor. From October 1, 2019, to October 1, 2020, which citations occur, Eigenfactor applies an algorithm as reported by 2019 Journal Citation Reports, Clarivate Analytics®. that uses the entire Web of Science citation network from Clarivate Analytics® spanning the previous 5 articles were in the top 10 journals based on Eigenfactor, years.² This algorithm creates a metric that reflects the as reported by Clarivate Analytics® (Table 1). relative importance of each journal. Eigenfactor counts A stacked area chart in Figure 2 has been included in citations to journals in both the sciences and social this year’s edition of the Annual Highlights of Results sciences, eliminates self-citations of journals, and is (2020) to depict the growth of ISS publications over intended to reflect the amount of time researchers the years and its augmentation through citations. spend reading the journal. From October 1, 2019, to These data may imply that the dissemination of ISS October 1, 2020, 56 ISS articles were published in the science is now influencing other areas of investigation top 100 journals based on Eigenfactor. Ten of those ISS and contributing to the generation of new ideas. ² West JD, Bergstrom TC, Bergstrom CT. The Eigenfactor Metrics™: A Network approach to assessing scholarly journals. College and Research Libraries. 2010;71(3). DOI: 10.5860/0710236. 2 Figure 2. Stacked area chart depicts growth of publications and citations since the inception of the ISS. ISS science continues to flourish even more rapidly challenges in research management and research today than 10 years ago, consequently affecting evaluation. For instance, bibliometrics can be applied to formal and public education, generating a new support strategic decision making by the management workforce of responsible and creative scientists, and of a research institution and to support the evaluation of inspiring young minds. research institutes and research groups.³ The ISS PSO has implemented the use of bibliometrics Bibliometric visualizations offer a powerful way to as an additional method to measure the impact of space present detailed information in a way that improves station research. Bibliometrics is the quantitative analysis understanding of the data. Visualizations can provide a