Three research teams at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have been selected to conduct a series of studies as part of next year’s International Space Station “Rakia” mission. This journey will mark the first private mission to a multinational space center.

Jefferson’s three projects were one of 44 projects selected to perform the task, which was organized by Ramon Foundation And the Space Agency of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology. The Ramon Foundation in Israel supports entrepreneurship and space exploration in memory of Ilan, Rona and Asaf Ramon. Colonel Elan Rohmann was an astronaut who was killed in the Columbia Space Shuttle accident in 2003.

Scheduled on January 22, 2022, the International Space Station mission will be performed by SpaceX On behalf of Axiom Space, A private aerospace technology developer based in Houston. Four astronauts will fly in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule: Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe, mission commander Michael López-Alegría, investor Larry Connor and philanthropist Mark Pathy. The name “Rakia” comes from the sky in Hebrew.

“The Rakia mission selected all three projects submitted by Jefferson and our collaborators,” said Zvi Grunwald, executive director of the Jefferson Israel Center. “This mission is a very unique opportunity to understand life in space and how it affects human health.”

Each Jefferson project will study the different effects of space travel on the human body.

• Urologist Dr. Paul Chung will study how low gravity and the space station environment change the urine microbiome of astronauts. He will work with his collaborators to analyze urine samples collected from astronauts before, during, and after the mission to understand the changes in good and bad microorganisms.

• Neurologist George Brainard will lead a project to monitor astronauts’ stress and sleep. The experiment will test stress interventions for novice space travelers. Astronauts will have Fitbit-like electronic wearable devices associated with mobile applications on Earth. They will also complete a series of visual, auditory and behavioral tests, and may develop methods to help Earth astronauts.

• Radiation oncologist Dr. Adam Dicker will work with a team to study the impact of space travel on immune dysfunction. The changes in the immune system of most astronauts are due to an intensified response to the reactivated virus that normally sleeps in the body. The team aims to analyze the baseline immune status of astronauts through complex molecular analysis of more than 1,000 proteins in blood samples before and after spaceflight.

All projects include time donated by astronauts and depend on raising funds and obtaining NASA approval.