Microage experiment

ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer sets up the Microage experiment from the UK Space Agency and University of Liverpool. He posted this to his social channels on Monday 3 January with the caption: "Why do our bones and muscles get weaker as we grow old? As muscle and bone loss also happens faster in the weightless environment of space, the British Microage experiment – delivered by SpaceX cargo Dragon just before Christmas – studies muscle degradation aboard the International Space Station. It uses synthetic muscle cells that are electrically stimulated and, while one part of the samples is exposed to microgravity, others are exposed to artificial gravity via centrifugation. Back on Earth, the samples will be studied to help understand how this happens and identify possible modes of prevention."

Visit the Cosmic Kiss mission page to learn more about Matthias’s mission.