Space: Astronauts & Fungi

Back in August, two astronauts became stranded on the International Space Station due to safety concerns of their returning Boeing Starliner. Over the weekend, SpaceX launched a reduced crew rescue operation that will eventually be able to bring the stranded astronauts safely back to earth.

The SpaceX capsule arrived at the ISS yesterday but the crew will need to wait until February to make their return to earth after their stay was forced to be extended.

Joining On The Record’s Fiona Bartholomaeus to discuss this is Dr Rebecca Allen, co-director of the Space Technology and Industry Institute at the University of Swinburne.

“Boeing launched its crew flight test for its Starliner capsule. It was to demonstrate that it would be capable of taking astronauts to and from the International Space Station, however as it approached the station, there were issues causing it to lose helium. NASA decided that due to this issue and the information gathered from it, they would not allow the astronauts to return on the capsule.”

Dr Allen also has particular interest in the International Space Station, with their ongoing fungi experiments developed by the University of Swinburne.
The Swinburne website states that it’s “An experiment developed by Swinburne has blasted off to space containing three species of fungi – Lion’s Mane, Turkey’s Tail and Cordyceps.”

The experiment, spearheaded by Swinburne’s astrophysicists Dr Sara Webb and Dr Rebecca Allen, was designed, tested, and built with the assistance of high school students from Haileybury College.

For more information on the fungi experiments, you can click here.