The performance of KSC Fixation Tubes with RNALater for orbital experiments: A case study in ISS operations for molecular biology

Molecular biology experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) continue to face challenges of sample harvesting and sample return to earth for post flight analysis; however, the use of Kennedy Space Center Fixation Tubes filled with RNALater has proven to be a robust solution to many of these challenges. While it is clear that one direction of future spaceflight experimentation may be towards enhanced on-orbit analytical capabilities, the rapid progress of earth-bound analytical capacity dictates that facile return of molecular biology samples from the ISS will continue to be a mainstay of space life sciences research and flight operations. In this paper we present a case study of the successful performance of KFTs and RNALater over a broad set of operational conditions of ascent configuration, on-orbit experiment use, on-orbit storage and sample return configurations that are unique to ISS current operations and constraints. We also provide observations on performance limits and discuss deployment opportunities and scenarios that are consistent with continued successful ISS molecular biology experimentation.