RR-23 Mission: Mouse Muscle Transcriptional Profiling After 38 Days in Space

Twenty male C57BL/6J mice spent 38 days in microgravity on the International Space Station's RR-23 mission to study effects on vision-related vasculature. This dataset features transcriptional profiles from the right extensor digitorum longus muscle of 9 flight, 9 habitat ground control, and 9 vivarium ground control mice, sequenced to a target of 60 million clusters per sample. Data was generated by NASA, with post-flight procedures and tissue collection completed in January 2021.

Use Cases

• Identify gene expression changes in muscle tissue based on the comparison of flight, habitat ground control, and vivarium ground control groups.
• Analyze the impact of 38 days of microgravity on biological pathways based on transcriptional profiling data.
• Study spaceflight-induced physiological adaptations using RNA sequencing data from a controlled rodent model.
• Compare the effects of spaceflight habitat versus standard vivarium conditions on muscle transcriptomes.

Strengths

• Includes a controlled experimental design with three distinct groups: Flight, Habitat Ground Control, and Vivarium Ground Control.
• Sequencing was performed to a target depth of 60 million clusters per sample with 150bp paired-end reads.
• Sample collection followed a standardized protocol with precise post-flight euthanasia dates documented.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset description focuses on the mission's objective for eye vasculature, while the data provided is from muscle tissue, creating a potential context gap.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

RNA extracted from mouse muscle tissue collected after a 38-day spaceflight mission, with libraries generated and sequenced.

Time Range

Mission flown in 2020-2021, with tissue collection in January 2021.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:59:02.572808; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Samples from mice flown on the International Space Station, with post-flight processing at Texas A&M University, USA.