RR-23: Mouse Thymus Transcriptional Profiles After 38 Days in Space

Twenty male C57BL/6J mice were flown to the ISS on SpaceX-21 and maintained in microgravity for 38 days before returning to Earth in January 2021. This dataset from NASA features RNA sequencing data from thymus tissues of 9 Flight, 9 Habitat Ground Control, and 9 Vivarium Ground Control mice, with a technical replicate for one sample in each group. Libraries were sequenced with a target of 60 million clusters per sample.

Use Cases

• Identify gene expression changes in thymus tissue based on spaceflight exposure described in the mission.
• Compare transcriptomic profiles based on the three experimental groups (Flight, Habitat Ground Control, Vivarium Ground Control).
• Assess technical reproducibility in RNA-seq data based on the included independent library preparation replicates.
• Investigate the impact of 38-day microgravity exposure on biological pathways related to vascular and lymphatic function mentioned in the mission objective.

Strengths

• Includes a controlled experimental design with three distinct groups (Flight, HGC, VGC), each with 9 samples.
• Data generation followed a standardized protocol with a target sequencing depth of 60 million clusters per sample.
• Contains a technical replicate for one sample in each group to assess reproducibility.

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 mission procedures; specific analytical variables are not detailed.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

RNA extracted from thymus tissues of mice flown on the RR-23 mission, followed by library preparation and sequencing.

Time Range

Tissue collection occurred in January 2021 following a 38-day spaceflight mission.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 19:53:33.654280; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Samples originated from mice flown on the International Space Station and processed at Texas A&M University.