SpaceX Inspiration4 Crew Microbiome Swabs from Ten Body Sites Pre-, In-, and Post-Flight
Updated 3mo ago
3filesBIN
Available on 1 platform
Sign in to view source links and access this dataset
Description
Microbial swab samples from the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission's four private astronauts, collected from ten oral, nasal, and skin body sites. The samples were taken at eight timepoints before, during, and after the 3-day low Earth orbit mission in September 2021. DNA and RNA were extracted to generate paired metagenomic and metatranscriptomic profiles, with nuclease-free water controls sequenced alongside.
Use Cases
Modeling temporal microbiome shifts based on pre-, in-, and post-flight sampling at eight timepoints
Comparing microbial community composition and activity (metagenomic vs. metatranscriptomic) across ten distinct body sites
Analyzing the impact of spaceflight on skin, oral, and nasal microbiota based on swabs from four astronauts
Investigating technical variation using sequenced nuclease-free water control samples mentioned in the description
Strengths
Paired metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data from the same swab, enabling functional activity analysis
Longitudinal design with eight collection timepoints spanning pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight phases
Samples from ten distinct anatomical locations provide site-specific microbial profiles
Includes sequenced control samples (nuclease-free water) for technical background assessment
Limitations
Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
Data is stored in BIN format, which may require specialized tools for access and interpretation
Provenance
Source
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Collection Method
Biospecimen collection from four private astronauts during the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission, with swabs stored in DNA/RNA Shield until nucleic acid extraction.
Time Range
Samples collected around the September 2021 mission, with specific timepoints L-92, L-44, L 3, FD2, FD3, R+1, R+45, R+82.
Freshness
Last updated 2026-03-13 20:04:50.352757; freshness should be verified
Geography
Samples collected from astronauts in low Earth orbit and on Earth; specific terrestrial collection location is not specified.
License is listed as 'other-license-specified'; specific terms must be reviewed before use.