Kennedy Space Center, Florida – 30 July 2025 – NASA’s SpaceX Crew‑11 mission is scheduled to launch tomorrow, 31 July, carrying a four‑member international crew to the International Space Station (ISS). The capsule is expected to rendezvous with the orbiting laboratory on 2 August.
The mission crew includes NASA astronaut Zena Cardman as commander, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke as pilot, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yuiand as mission specialist, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov as mission specialist. Alongside the crew, Canada’s Bio‑Monitor system – smart shirts and headbands developed by Montreal‑based Carré Technologies – will continue its role in collecting vital health data for three ongoing Canadian space health experiments.
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The studies include Space Health, which uses AI‑powered analysis of Bio‑Monitor data to track how spaceflight affects the cardiovascular system; Vascular Calcium, which examines whether a year in orbit accelerates arterial stiffness and insulin resistance seen in shorter missions under NASA’s CIPHER program; and CARDIOBREATH, which measures how cardiovascular and respiratory systems regulate blood pressure in space.
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Health challenges experienced in microgravity mimic conditions that occur on Earth but progress at a faster rate. Insights from these studies not only aim to keep astronauts healthier during long‑duration spaceflight and upon return, but also have the potential to advance medical understanding and treatment for cardiovascular conditions on Earth.
SOURCE: NASA IMAGE ©: This infographic features an image of Bio-Monitor, a “smart shirt” worn by astronauts during their missions to the ISS. (Credit: Canadian Space Agency)
