Astronaut and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) displays production bags containing probiotic yogurt cultures for the BioNutrients-3 investigation on

Oct. 2

, 2025, aboard the International Space Station.

NASA

Certain nutrients critical for human health lack the shelf life needed to span multi-year missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA’s BioNutrients-3 is part of an experiment series testing ways to use microorganisms to produce these nutrients in space and on demand.

The on-demand nature of this experiment is similar to making nutrient-dense fermented foods on Earth, such as how milk is transformed by good bacteria into yogurt.

But in this case, there is a focus on producing specific types and quantities of nutrients essential for future space explorers.

Samples from BioNutrients-3, along with other valuable experiments, are set to return from the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft supporting the company’s 33rd…