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Best of Space Station Science Images 2023

Hundreds of experiments flew aboard the International Space Station in 2023, covering a wide range of scientific topics, including biology, human research, and Earth science. Take a glimpse of the science on station with this image gallery.

iss070e030135 (Nov. 24, 2023) --- NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli swaps components inside the BioFabrication Facility (BFF), which is designed to...
Jasmin Moghbeli smiles at the camera. She is wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt and a headlamp on her forehead and has both hands inside a plastic glovebag.
iss069e061564 (Aug. 17, 2023) --- Expedition 69 astronauts work on a variety of tasks inside the space station’s Kibo laboratory...
Three astronauts work on a variety of tasks. Clockwise from left, NASA astronaut Hoburg, wearing a green t-shirt, looks at the camera and smiles while is holding a bar on the wall as he floats. Rubio is looking at his hands, which are inside the Life Science Glovebox. Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) is smiling up at the camera.
iss069e031305 (Jul. 13, 2023) --- NASA astronaut Frank Rubio conducts the Genes in Space-10 experiment, which tests a method for...
Rubio wears blue rubber gloves and gives a thumbs-up as he holds the paperback-book-sized miniPCR inside the Columbus laboratory module. There is a laptop to his right and a camera above him.
iss068e036727 (Jan. 3, 2023) --- NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann handles production bags for Bio-Nutrients-2. This experiment uses genetically engineered microbes...
Mann is wearing a black polo shirt, smiling at the camera, and holding two sample packs with a yellow-colored liquid in them. A table in front of Mann holds more filled sample packs.
iss070e022098 (Nov. 11, 2023) ---Carrying over 6,500 pounds of cargo, the 29th SpaceX commercial resupply mission arrives to the space...
Thrusters on the white SpaceX Dragon appear as four straight white lines coming from behind the spacecraft against the black background of space.
iss069e033736 (Jul. 18, 2023) --- NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen conducts an amateur radio session with students from Canada. The ISS...
Bowen is holding a radio microphone in his right hand. He is wearing a blue t-shirt and khaki shorts with horizontal velcro strips with an attached to them.
iss069e085814 (Sept. 4, 2023) --- JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa exchanges crystal samples for the Growth of...
Furukawa is looking at the camera and holding open a white door. Behind the door are several panels and a large circular compartment. The walls of the station behind him are covered with cables, cords, and equipment.
iss069e004697_alt (Apr. 21, 2023) --- NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg performs a test for CapiSorb Visible System, an experiment demonstrating control...
Hoburg adjusts part of an experiment on the table in front of him. He is wearing a green t-shirt and khakis. Two transparent containers of red liquid are attached to transparent tubes running in different directions.
iss070e000501 (Sept. 29, 2023) --- NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara sets up the station’s CEVIS exercise cycle to collect data for...
O'Hara sets up for a workout session. O’Hara is looking at an iPad and holding onto a bar connected to the wall with her left hand.
iss069e024418 (Jun. 23, 2023) --- UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi floats beside an Astrobee aboard the space station....
Alneyadi, wearing a dark blue shirt, khaki pants, and white socks, floats with his legs crossed to the right of the blue cube-shaped Astrobee robot. A green Astrobee floats in the background. Laptops, cords, lights, and equipment cover the walls around him.
jsc2023e002281 (Jan. 13, 2023) --- The Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction - Growth and Extinction Limits (SoFIE-GEL) experiment studies burning...
A 4-cm diameter sphere of acrylic burns in microgravity. The orange flame appears near the end of the burn, having engulfed the entire fuel bulb after growing from a small ignition point on the right side.
iss069e020459 (Jun. 13, 2023) --- The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) investigation studies the nature and behavior of neutron...
A large white box attached to the outside of the space station is covered with circular detectors that look like small wheels. The station's solar arrays fill the background.
iss068e039389 (Jan. 9, 2023) --- JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata retrieves JAXA Moderate Temperature Protein Crystal Growth...
Wakata stands behind two floating gray, cylindrical containers. His arms are out to the side and an iPad velcroed to his right leg. Several cables and boxes are along the sides of the module.
(Jun. 13, 2023) --- The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) records ground and plant temperatures. This...
In the center of the image, the city of Houston is dark red. A thin orange color, indication cooler areas, surrounds the red areas. There is a wide band of yellow, then a band of light green, and a few blue areas along the edges of the image, which correspond to the coolest land surface temperature.
iss070e024794 (Nov. 14, 2023) --- The space station’s robotic arms install a new laser communications device, the Integrated Laser Communications...
The long white Canadarm2 and Japanese robotic arm manipulate a large white package into a new terminal on the outside of the space station. The blue Earth is visible below with scattered thin clouds.
iss069e084701 (Aug. 29, 2023) --- ESA (European Space Agency) Astronaut Andreas Mogensen floats in the Columbus laboratory. The main research...
Mogensen floats in the center of the Columbus laboratory module. Several cables, boxes, and laptops are secured to the walls around him.
iss070e014288 (Oct. 26, 2023) --- The Canadarm2 robotic arm, with its fine-tuned robotic hand Dextre attached, is pictured as the...
This image shows the Canadarm2 robotic arm extending below the International Space Station as orbits 260 miles above the city lights of the Arabian Peninsula.
iss070e024027 (Nov. 13, 2023) --- The space station’s cupola windows provide the crew a unique view of the planet. For...
The western coast of Chile is visible through the middle window of the cupola. A solar array can be seen through a window on the left and in the center, a portion of Northrop Grumman's cymbal-shaped solar array. The Roscosmos segment of the station is visible in the bottom right.
iss069e089106_alt (Sept. 18, 2023) --- ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen processes blood samples for Immunity Assay. This ESA...
: ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, wearing a black t-shirt and green pants, holds a syringe and smiles at the camera. He is holding a syringe with both gloved hands. Several vials are taped to the workbench in front of him.
iss069e085692 (Sept. 1, 2023) --- Northrop Grumman’s 19th commercial resupply mission brought 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to...
The cylindrical Cygnus space freighter, with white and silver panels and a large cymbal-shaped solar array at the bottom is attached to an Earth-facing port on the space station. A blue Earth with white clouds fills the background.
iss069e055081 (Aug. 8, 2023) --- Thale cress plants sprout inside the Advanced Plant Habitat. One of the first multi-generational plant...
48 labeled Thale cress plants with small green leaves sprout in a six by eight black grid inside the station’s Advanced Plant Habitat.
iss068e054121 (Feb. 14, 2023) --- NASA astronaut Josh Cassada performs sets of movements for GRIP, an experiment focused on how...
Cassada sits in a specialized chair surrounded by walls covered with wires, tubes, and equipment. His torso is strapped in with a harness and his feet are inserted into restraints.
iss069e022780 (Jun. 19, 2023) --- UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi works on the Fluid Dynamics in Space (FLUIDICS)...
A fist-sized transparent sphere with orange liquid floats out of the hands of Alneyadi, who is facing the camera. He is wearing a black polo shirt. Several cords are against the wall to Alneyadi’s left.