In a recent video chat with earthlings, NASA astronaut Nick Hague talked about what makes the International Space Station (ISS) so special.
“The coolest thing about the space station is the reason why we’re here — it’s to do science in a weightless environment,” the American astronaut said alongside fellow ISS inhabitant and ace space photographer Don Pettit.
This 50-lb robot floats up here, and because it floats, we can test out all kinds of unique things about robotics. When we take gravity out of the equation, we understand nuances in processes and reactions around and within us. pic.twitter.com/raNLajvHng
— Nick Hague (@AstroHague) February 19, 2025
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To demonstrate what he meant, Hague grabbed a 50-pound (23-kilogram) robot and let it just float around him. “Because it floats, we can test out all kinds of unique things about robotics, and how it needs to respond.”
Warming to his theme, Hague adds: “But it’s not just robotics we’re able to do — when we take gravity out of the equation, then we start to really understand the nuances and processes and reactions around us and within us, and we better understand how to help each other, how to make better medicines, how to cure diseases, how to make better materials. All of those things are things that we discover by doing research here on the space station.”
It’s true. Over the more than two decades of ISS operations in Earth’s orbit, visiting astronauts have worked on well over 3,000 experiments across a broad range of research areas. And the results of many of these have led to tangible benefits for humans back on terra firma.
For example, in their efforts to study neutron stars, the team behind the NICER telescope created and patented an X-ray source, paving the way for the next generation of medical scanning technology.
Other research on the ISS has led to the development of TAS-205, a promising drug for a genetic muscle-wasting disease called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which is currently undergoing a Phase 3 clinical trial until 2027 and could potentially slow the progression of the condition by half.
And the creation of the space station robot Robonaut led to the development of an industrial-strength robotic glove that can be used by auto workers to avoid hand fatigue and injury. Originally called RoboGlove but currently known as Ironhand, the device is now produced by Sweden’s Bioservo Technologies and is available commercially.
NASA has many articles on how ISS research has enabled scientific discoveries and technological advancements that have gone on to improve lives globally.