Microbiome Definition and Space Mission Role
Chapter 1

The garbage trucks in your cells

Chapter 2

The biology of extreme survival

Chapter 3

The micro-farm inside your gut

Chapter 4

Humans as planetary lifeboats

YOUR GOAL

Master of How your body recycles itself

Ch 4 · Humans as planetary lifeboats
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007skaty Long-term space travel creates dangerous challenges for human bone recycling

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007skaty Planetary Lifeboats

We are walking lifeboats (we are lifeboats) / carrying a trillion tiny lives inside (lives inside)

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To survive in isolation, we must turn our waste into our sustenance.

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007skaty The Sabatier reactor recycles air on the International Space Station.

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The challenges of long-term bone recycling

007skaty NASA studies how to stop bone-destroying osteoclasts from outworking bone-building osteoblasts to protect astronauts on a three-year Mars

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The Sabatier reactor and breathing loop

007skaty A color-coded diagram shows the chemical flow inside the ISS Sabatier reactor.

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Pocket Planet People
BETA

007skaty Balance vital organs to learn how the human body sustains itself like a living planet.

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Fun Fact

Space water recovery: In 2023, NASA reached a historic 98% water recovery rate on the International Space Station, recycling almost all moisture.

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Glossary
microbiome (noun)
The community of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, that inhabit a particular environment. In 2026, scientists analyzed how astronauts carry vital microbiomes to preserve terrestrial life on Mars missions.

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Gossip

Would you drink recycled space urine?

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Quiz

Which chemical reactor on the space station combines carbon dioxide and hydrogen to make water?

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007skaty The water recycling loops of the International Space Station.

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Quiz

What percentage of their bone mass can astronauts lose per month in microgravity?

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007skaty NASA uses synthetic biology to grow fresh vitamins in space.

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Quiz

What is the name of the NASA project testing self-growing nutrients using engineered yeast?

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Quiz

Which antioxidant nutrient is produced by NASA's engineered space yeast in just 24 hours?

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Quiz

What is the name of the life support system that recycles water and air on the ISS?

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Quiz

What record-breaking water recovery percentage did NASA achieve on the ISS in 2023?

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Quiz

Which bone-destroying cells become hyperactive in microgravity, causing bone loss?

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Quiz

What process is used to split recycled water into breathable oxygen and hydrogen gas?

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