NASA Rodent Research-1: Microgravity Bone Loss in Mice via Micro-CT

37-day spaceflight on the ISS induced significant bone loss in the femurs, but not the vertebrae, of 16-week-old female mice. This dataset contains microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analysis results from the NASA Rodent Research-1 mission, published by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The findings suggest mechanical unloading is the primary cause of site-specific bone degeneration in microgravity.

Use Cases

• Train models to detect site-specific bone loss patterns based on micro-CT scan data.
• Analyze the relationship between mechanical unloading and skeletal changes using paired femur and vertebrae measurements.
• Study the progression of secondary ossification in femoral heads under microgravity conditions.
• Compare bone mass maintenance between enriched habitat (NASA Rodent Habitat) and standard vivarium housing.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled NASA spaceflight experiment (Rodent Research-1 mission).
• Study includes a 37-day microgravity exposure period and paired analysis of femur and vertebrae from the same animals.
• Findings are based on microcomputed tomography and histological analyses.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is stored in BIN format, which may require specialized tools for access and analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Microcomputed tomography and histological analysis of bones from mice flown on the International Space Station for 37 days.

Time Range

Study period includes a 37-day spaceflight mission.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 20:09:21.684324; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Data collected from the International Space Station (Low Earth Orbit).