Space-Produced Drug Safely Returns to Earth

Varda Space Industries, a company from California, did something amazing recently. They brought back samples of a medicine they made while in space.

It wasn’t easy. The capsule carrying the samples had some problems and was stuck in space for a while. But finally, on February 21, it landed safely in the Utah desert.

A Small Space Factory

In June 2023, Varda Space Industries announced that they successfully made the medicine in space. They did this using a small space factory, which was the first of its kind in the world. The medicine-making mission was sent into space by a SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket. It happened on June 12. The medicine was made in a satellite called W-Series 1, which was attached to Rocket Lab’s Photon platform.

The whole process of making the medicine took about 27 hours and finished on June 30. They managed to create crystals of ritonavir, a medicine used to treat HIV/AIDS.

Why in the Space?

Now, why did they bother making medicine in space? Well, it turns out that being in space helps make better quality medicine faster. Without gravity, the crystals form better.

After finishing their experiment, they sent the data back from the satellite to confirm that it was successful.

Originally, the capsule was supposed to come back in July 2023. But the US Federal Aviation Administration didn’t allow it to re-enter. So, it stayed in space until this week.

The capsule that returned to Earth was made by Rocket Lab. It landed at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) at Hill Air Force Base, which is about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City.

Varda

After Varda got the capsule back, they sent it to their headquarters in Los Angeles to check it out more.

The company said they collected more data during the capsule’s flight, including when it went really fast. They’ll share this data with the Air Force and NASA because of a contract they have with them. They explained this in a statement posted on X, which used to be called Twitter.

Read the Original Article: IFL SCIENCE

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