NASA, ISRO to study muscle revival in space

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will collaborate on a series of scientific investigations aboard Axiom Mission 4 — the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station — scheduled for launch on June 10.

One of the key experiments will study muscle regeneration in space. While this phenomenon has been extensively examined by NASA and other space agencies, the precise reasons why muscle cells fail to repair efficiently in microgravity remain unclear.

Currently, there are no approved drugs or treatments that effectively promote muscle regeneration. During long-duration spaceflights, astronauts experience muscle loss, and the regenerative capacity of their muscle cells declines. Researchers suspect this may be due to microgravity interfering with mitochondrial metabolism. Findings from this study could help develop interventions to maintain muscle health during extended space missions and in people suffering from age-related muscle loss on Earth.