For the next six months, a camera system on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) will be snapping photos of more than a dozen different material samples, gathering detailed information that will help researchers determine how—and why—the harsh conditions of space affect these materials. Among the issues to be studied are color changes that may indicate the degradation caused by exposure to the environment in space.

A key goal of the research will be to correlate the color changes that occur under low-Earth orbital (LEO) exposure with variations in the materials' properties—such as structural strength, chemical composition, and electrical conductivity—to determine how these spectral changes might allow scientists and engineers to visually assess deterioration.

If NASA is to boldly go where no man has gone before, the federal agency might have Tampa to thank for it.

NASA is set to launch the unmanned Artemis 1, the first flight of its larger Artemis program mission to build a moon base and send astronauts to Mars.

Such accomplishments will require affordable and reliable deep space communication. That's where Tampa comes in.

A team of mostly amateurs from around the country—but based out of Tampa—built a CubeSat, which is a miniature, cubed-shaped satellite used in space exploration in recent years.

The size of two loaves of bread side by side, their solar-powered CubeSat will hitch a ride on Artemis 1, get dropped off short of the moon and then propel itself as far as 28 million miles farther. All the while, their CubeSat will transmit information back to Earth.

"It's pretty unbelievable," said Wesley Falor, head of the group known as Team Miles.

A Duke research study is preparing to blast off to the Moon with NASA on Artemis I.

Dr. Tim Hammond, professor of medicine at Duke, and co-investigator Dr. Holly Birdsall created the "Fuel to Mars" study to identify genes and gene pathways that fuel-producing algae use to survive deep space. A duplicate control experiment is housed at the Durham VA hospital to see how the algae grow without exposure to radiation and microgravity.

Their findings could help pave the way for future human space explorers.

The Artemis I, which has been delayed once already, is scheduled to blast off Saturday.