Khaberni - The Saudi Space Agency announced the outcomes of 11 scientific research papers, including nine national and two international papers, which are the fruit of scientific experiments conducted during the historic Saudi space mission "SSA-HSF 1," which launched in 2023.
The mission included the execution of 19 scientific experiments on board the International Space Station, accomplished by Saudi astronauts across three main pathways: Biomedical, Human Health, and Science and Technology.
Among these experiments were partnerships with local and international research bodies, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Thursday.
The Saudi mission marked a milestone in the Kingdom’s scientific journey, providing a unique microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station that accelerated the emergence of results and elevated the quality of scientific discoveries, in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to support scientific research, innovation, and technology localization.
The results in the biomedical field revealed the success of a blood-based biomarker measurement experiment in determining human health metrics in space, and the production of a nanomaterial with higher quality and precision than those developed on Earth, within an experiment using nanotechnology for tissue engineering in cooperation with international research entities.
An initial gene transfer operation for stem cells was also conducted in space in cooperation with global research centers.
In the Science and Technology track, a cloud seeding experiment in a microgravity environment, conducted using an innovative technology for the first time, proved efficient in the interaction of water vapor with silver iodide, and contributed to providing new data to understand the impact of gravity on the mechanism of water vapor condensation.
In terms of Human Health, the results included six experiments that provided the latest information on the effect of short-term spaceflights on the human brain, including measuring intracranial pressure through pupil response and measuring the diameter of the optic nerve sheath and its enlargement indicating increased intracranial pressure, and studying cerebral perfusion to determine the effect of cognitive tasks in microgravity.
