Alexander Gerst with Biolab

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst working with Biolab in Europe’s Columbus laboratory on the International Space Station during his Blue Dot mission in 2014.

Biolab is an experiment workstation tailored for research on biological samples such as micro-organisms, cells, tissue cultures, plants and small invertebrates.

The unit features a centrifuge that creates simulated gravity to compare how samples react to weightlessness and artificial gravity.

Alexander Tweeted this image with the text: "BIOLAB cell research in space - to understand the very cells that all of us are made of."

Follow Alexander via alexandergerst.esa.int

Read more about his Blue Dot mission here.