jsc2023e052854 (9/6/2023) --- Dr. Aaron Rodgers unboxes the BFF-Meniscus-2 investigation after its return from the International Space Station. The first human knee meniscus has been successfully 3D bioprinted in orbit using the BioFabrication Facility. This is a significant step towards developing solutions to promote recovery from musculoskeletal injuries. Image courtesy of Redwire.

jsc2023e052853 (9/6/2023) --- Dr. Aaron Rodgers unboxes the BFF-Meniscus-2 investigation after its return from the International Space Station. The first human knee meniscus has been successfully 3D bioprinted in orbit using the BioFabrication Facility. This is a significant step towards developing solutions to promote recovery from musculoskeletal injuries. Image courtesy of Redwire.

While the microgravity environment of orbit eliminates a number of effects that impede the formation of materials on Earth, the change can also cause new, unwanted effects. A mysterious phenomenon, known as detached solidification, apparently stems from a small hydrostatic force that turns out to be pervasive. The contact of the solid with the ampoule transfers stress to the growing crystal and causing unwanted dislocations and twins. William Wilcox and Liya Regel of Clarkson University theorize that the melt is in contact with the ampoule wall, while the solid is not, and the melt and solid are cornected by a meniscus. Their work is sponsored by NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Researcxh, and builds on earlier work by Dr. David Larson of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

jsc2023e052856 (9/6/2023) --- The first human knee meniscus has been successfully 3D bioprinted in orbit using the International Space Station’s BioFabrication Facility. This is a significant step towards developing solutions to promote recovery from musculoskeletal injuries. Image courtesy of Redwire.

jsc2022e072969 (8/12/2022) --- The BioFabrication Facility (BFF) and the ADvanced Space Experiment Processor (ADSEP) together comprise a system capable of manufacturing human tissue in the microgravity environment of space. BFF is returning to the International Space Station after coming back to Earth for upgrades in 2020. The first investigation to be conducted in the upgraded facility is BioFabrication Facility Assembled Next-gen Development of Collagenous Allograft Meniscal Prosthetics aboard the International Space Station (BFF-Meniscus-2). The study attempts to 3D print a meniscus, also known as knee cartilage tissue, using only bioinks and cells. Image courtesy of Redwire.

iss069e000087 (March 29, 2023) --- UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut and Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi services tissue sample cassettes inside the Columbus laboratory Module's BioFabrication Facility (BFF). The BFF-Meniscus study investigates bioprinting tissues to heal musculoskeletal injuries both in space and on Earth,