Russell Neches edited Abstract.md  about 8 years ago

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**Abstract**  Background: While significant attention has been paid to the potential risk of pathogenic microbes aboard crewed spacecraft,there has been less attention given to  the non-pathogenic microbes in these habitats. habitats have attracted less attention.  Preliminary work has demonstrated that the interior of the International Space Station (ISS) has a microbial community resembling those of built environments on earth. Here we report results of sending 48 bacterial strains, collected from built environments on earth, for a growth experiment on the ISS. This project was a component of Project MERCCURI (Microbial Ecology Research Combining Citizen and University Researchers on ISS). Results: Of the 48 strains sent to the ISS, 45 of them showed similar growth in space and on earth using a relative growth measurement adapted for microgravity. The vast majority of species tested in this experiment have also been found in culture-independent surveys of the ISS. Only one bacterial strain showed significantly different growth in space. _Bacillus safensis_ JPL-MERTA-8-2 grew 60% better in space than on earth.