The target indications are advanced retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, conditions that destroy photoreceptors while often leaving downstream neural circuitry intact. AMD affects tens of millions of people worldwide (nearly 20 million Americans over age 40); RP is rarer but causes progressive vision loss, often beginning early. The implant is intended for standard subretinal surgical placement. The company has advanced process development, raised substantial funding (including NASA InSPA and SBIR support), and aims toward preclinical trials around late 2027–2028, followed by regulatory pathways. It is still pre-clinical; space manufacturing is a key differentiator for quality and future scale.
In short, the purple spot is a multilayer bacteriorhodopsin thin-film implant whose light-driven proton pumping is meant to restore usable vision by stimulating residual retinal neurons, with microgravity used to produce more uniform, higher-performing films than is practical on Earth. The grid scaffold is the supporting ion-permeable membrane on which the layers are built. This is one of the more advanced examples of in-space production applications aimed at an eventual clinical product.
NASA SPACEX 35TH COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY MISSION
LAMBDAVISION-1
The image shows a small, flexible protein-based artificial retina prototype (the purple oval spot) produced or evaluated by LambdaVision for the LambdaVision-1 investigation on NASA’s SpaceX CRS-35 mission to the ISS. It is held on a transparent grid-patterned ion-permeable scaffold/film.
Issnationallab
Core Technology
LambdaVision’s implant consists of hundreds of alternating layers (demonstrated up to 200) of the light-activated protein bacteriorhodopsin (a purple, extremely stable microbial rhodopsin from the extremophile Halobacterium salinarum) and a polycation polymer binder. These are deposited via electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly onto an ion-permeable synthetic fiber membrane scaffold. The finished implant is tiny—roughly the size of a paper hole punch—and flexible.
Issnationallab
Bacteriorhodopsin functions as a proton pump: when it absorbs light (primarily in the green-yellow range, with useful response near ~640 nm), it undergoes a photocycle and vectorially pumps protons, generating a local electrochemical/proton gradient. In the implant, this is oriented toward remaining retinal neurons. The gradient activates acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) on bipolar and ganglion cells, producing neural signals that travel via the optic nerve to the brain. It is designed as a self-powered, electronics-free “artificial photoreceptor layer” that replaces the function of damaged rods and cones. No external power, cameras, or electrodes are required. The multilayer architecture provides sufficient optical density and signal strength; response scales with layer count and light intensity, and temporal resolution is on the order of physiological latency (~100 ms scale).
iovs.arvojournals
Preclinical ex vivo work (e.g., with P23H rat models of retinal degeneration) has shown the films can stimulate retinal ganglion cells when placed subretinally, with activation efficiency rising with light intensity comparable to ambient levels in some tests.
Why Microgravity Manufacturing?
On Earth, LbL dipping or deposition is disrupted by gravity-driven effects: sedimentation of protein/polymer particles, buoyancy-driven convection, and uneven flow. Imperfections compound across 50–200 layers, producing non-uniform films, high material waste (only the best regions are usable), reduced optical performance, lower stability/reproducibility, and challenges with single-sided coating.
In microgravity, these forces are largely eliminated. Solutions remain more homogeneous; layers deposit more uniformly and with better molecular orientation. Space-produced films have shown improved homogeneity, optical performance, stability, biocompatibility, and reproducibility while using less raw material. This is critical for both performance (consistent proton gradient) and eventual scalability/GMP manufacturing.
Eurekalert
Process and Hardware
The system uses a compact, automated closed-loop fluidic setup inside Space Tango CubeLab hardware. Solutions (bacteriorhodopsin, polycation, washes) are pumped alternately over the scaffold in a chamber; cameras, flow sensors, and (in later flights) spectroscopy enable real-time monitoring and ground intervention if needed. The payload is low-mass, largely autonomous (minimal astronaut time), and has parallel ground-control units run at Kennedy Space Center for direct comparison. LambdaVision has completed nine prior ISS investigations, successfully producing multiple 50- and 200-layer films. LambdaVision-1 on CRS-35 continues evaluation of the method (and related process/quality-control advances) in microgravity. The company is also working on solution recycling, on-orbit characterization, and transition toward commercial LEO platforms (e.g., reserved capacity on Starlab) for scaled production.
techport.nasa
Clinical Context
NASA SPACE X 35TH COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY MISSIOM
ELF - UNCONVENTIONAL GLASS 2
This image shows a high-temperature molten oxide droplet being levitated and studied inside JAXA’s Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) on the International Space Station (ISS) Kibo module. It is associated with the ELF-Unconventional Glass 2 experiment (also called Unconventional Glass 2), led by Atsunobu Masuno of Kyoto University.
humans-in-space.jaxa
What the glowing sphere is
The bright yellow-white sphere is a small (typically ~2 mm diameter) sample of oxide material heated well above its melting point, often to 2000–2500 °C or higher. At these temperatures it glows intensely by thermal radiation (incandescence). The spherical shape is produced by surface tension in the liquid state under microgravity—there is no gravity to flatten it.
humans-in-space.jaxa
It is containerless: no crucible or wall is touching it. The sample is charged and held in position by electrostatic (Coulomb) forces from surrounding electrodes. Position sensors and high-speed feedback (up to ~1 kHz) keep it centered. In microgravity only weak forces are needed, which is crucial for oxides that are hard or impossible to levitate cleanly on Earth.
humans-in-space.jaxa
Heating is done with high-power lasers directed at the levitated droplet. When the lasers are switched off, the sample cools and can solidify (sometimes showing recalescence—a temporary brightening from latent heat release during solidification).
Scientific purpose of the experiment
ELF-Unconventional Glass 2 studies a class of unconventional oxide glasses that form without (or with very little of) the traditional network-former oxides such as SiO₂, B₂O₃, or P₂O₅. Ordinary glass structure relies on corner-sharing tetrahedra of these network formers. The materials studied here instead tend toward dense packing, higher oxygen coordination numbers (>4), and edge- or face-sharing polyhedra.
humans-in-space.jaxa
Examples include systems rich in heavy oxides such as La₂O₃–Nb₂O₅ (and related compositions). These can exhibit:
Ultra-high refractive indices (approaching or competing with diamond in some cases)
High packing density
Unusual thermal-expansion behavior
Other functional properties useful for optics and materials
On Earth, high melting points, container reactions, and heterogeneous nucleation make clean measurements and glass formation difficult. Microgravity + electrostatic levitation enables:
Contamination-free melts
Deep undercooling (supercooling) of the liquid
Precise measurement of thermophysical properties versus temperature: density (from imaging volume + post-flight mass), surface tension, and viscosity (via controlled droplet oscillation and decay)
Correlation of these properties with glass-forming ability
Related earlier work (including on La₂O₃–Nb₂O₅) showed that glass-forming compositions reach greater undercooling and have higher activation energies for viscous flow than non-glass-forming ones. The data help establish new rules for glass formation outside conventional models.
humans-in-space.jaxa
After the in-orbit measurements, samples are returned to Earth for detailed structural analysis (e.g., diffraction techniques).
Context of the image
The on-screen text identifies it with NASA’s SpaceX CRS-35 Commercial Resupply Mission and the ELF-Unconventional Glass 2 investigation. The courtesy credit matches the principal investigator (Kyoto University / Atsunobu Masuno). The ELF itself has been operating on Kibo since the mid-2010s and is used for a range of high-temperature oxide and other materials experiments under the JAXA–NASA collaboration.
humans-in-space.jaxa
In short, the glowing sphere is a pure, containerless molten droplet of an unconventional glass-forming oxide being held and measured in microgravity so researchers can understand—and ultimately design—new high-performance glasses that ordinary crucible methods cannot produce.
@SpaceX@elonmusk@NASA@NASAAdmin
NASA SPACE X 35TH COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY MISSION
STELLAR SPHEROIDS
This is a fluorescence microscopy image of a cardiac (heart) spheroid—a 3D model of human heart tissue—from the Stellar Spheroids experiment flying on NASA’s SpaceX CRS-35 commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station.
NASA
What you are looking at
The glowing red sphere is a multicellular cardiac spheroid (sometimes called a mini heart tissue model or early organoid). It is an aggregate of human heart cells, primarily cardiomyocytes (beating heart muscle cells) derived from stem cells, often human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). These can also include supporting cell types such as endothelial cells that help form blood vessels.
Newswise
Scale: The white bar is 100 μm (0.1 mm). Typical cardiac spheroids of this type range from roughly 100–500 μm in diameter.
Imaging: The intense red color is fluorescence. Cells have been labeled with a fluorescent dye or reporter (common red fluorophores include membrane dyes, viability stains, or genetically encoded fluorescent proteins). The mottled, textured surface reflects the dense packing and organization of individual cells and cell clusters within the spheroid.
Source: Arun Sharma Laboratory, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (a leading group in space-based stem cell, cardiac, and organoid research).
Scientific purpose of the experiment
Stellar Spheroids studies how microgravity affects the growth, maturation, structure, and function of these 3D heart tissue models. On Earth, gravity causes cells and small tissues to settle and can compress or distort delicate 3D structures. In the near-weightlessness of the ISS, cells can float and self-organize more freely.
NASA
Key questions researchers are investigating:
Does microgravity improve the formation of advanced vascular networks (blood vessel-like structures) inside the spheroids? Vascularization is notoriously difficult to achieve well on the ground because fine vessel networks can collapse under gravity.
Do the spheroids develop better architecture, cell organization, or functional properties (e.g., contractility, maturation) compared with identical ground controls?
Can space-grown models provide more realistic platforms for disease research (heart disease, cardiotoxicity) and higher-throughput drug testing?
NASA’s official description states that the results could help create more realistic heart tissue models for disease research and support larger-scale drug testing relevant to both Earth medicine and future long-duration space missions.
NASA
Broader context from the Sharma lab and related work
The Cedars-Sinai team (led by Arun Sharma) has a multi-year program of ISS experiments involving stem cells and heart models. Earlier work showed that microgravity alters cardiomyocyte gene expression, calcium handling, and contractile function, and that cells often recover many of these changes after return to Earth. More recent efforts focus on producing spheroids and organoids (heart and brain) from stem cells in space, leveraging the free-floating environment for better 3D assembly and potential vascularization. Cardiac spheroids function as simplified “mini hearts” useful for modeling disease and screening compounds because they better recapitulate cell–cell interactions than flat 2D cultures.
Cedars-sinai
The image shown in the mission graphic (with the CRS-35 countdown) is a representative fluorescence micrograph illustrating the type of 3D heart tissue model under study. It is not necessarily a live image captured on orbit during this specific flight; such graphics commonly use pre-flight or ground-control example images.
In short, the picture is a close-up of a tiny, fluorescently labeled 3D ball of human heart cells whose behavior in microgravity is being tested to improve how we grow and use these models for both space biology and terrestrial biomedical research.
@SpaceX@NASA@elonmusk@NASAAdmin@spacexai@Optimus_RH@Starlink
Dear Creator !!!!
Pray you for our fellon irish patriot
Might your greatess and light bright theyr future and guide them through this hardship.
Give them strenght
Vision
Courage
Faith and peace.
#INCHRIST#AMEN
🅰️♎️✝️♾️⚛️
BREAKING: Jefferies, a global investment bank, expects @Starlink on nearly 1 in 4 aircraft worldwide by 2028.
It forecasts growth from an estimated 9% today to 23%, citing Starlink’s huge satellite network and faster installations.
Terafab is Elon Musk’s planned semiconductor plant for Tesla, SpaceX, and xSI. The idea is a vertically integrated fab that designs, fabricates, packages, and tests custom AI chips under one roof, instead of buying all of that capacity from TSMC or Samsung.
Musk announced it on March 21, 2026, at a livestream in Austin. The name is a play on “tera” — the long-term target is more than 1 terawatt of AI compute a year.
Will be meant to make Chips for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving and Cybercab, the Optimus humanoid robot, and SpaceX’s planned orbital data centers. Early products named in project materials include Tesla’s AI5 (pilot batches targeted for 2026, volume in 2027) and later AI6, plus a space-oriented design sometimes called D3. The pitch is logic, memory, and advanced packaging on the same campus so iteration is faster and the supply chain is less exposed to outside foundries.
Where and how big. Two pieces:
A small research fab at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas in Austin. Ground was broken in April 2026. Musk has described it as roughly a $3 billion pilot, good for maybe a few thousand wafers a month, meant to try ideas rather than run volume.
The volume campus in Grimes County, Texas, near Iola, on the former Gibbons Creek power-plant site beside the reservoir, between Houston and College Station. Filings describe more than 6,000 acres and a full buildout footprint as large as 100 million square feet. State records put formal construction start around December 1, 2026, with early completion targeted for the end of 2028.
Raptor 3 drives Starship’s leap in rocket technology. It’s a massive step forward with no base heat shield needed, higher payload and efficiency, safer fuel handling, and a simpler, integrated design. These improvements bring us closer to a practical multiplanetary future.