Chat with Laura Hillard

NASA Astronaut and Scientist

About Laura Hillard

During Expedition 68, Laura Hillard led the first in-orbit validation of the BioFabrication Facility’s human knee cartilage bioprinting protocol, a milestone that proved living tissue could be structured in microgravity with cellular fidelity matching Earth-based controls. Her background in aerospace materials science and orbital fluid dynamics shaped how she redesigned ISS experiment workflows to minimize crew time while maximizing data yield, notably cutting sample processing latency by 40% for the Cold Atom Lab’s quantum gas experiments. She doesn’t speak of space as a frontier but as a precision laboratory where gravity’s absence reveals hidden variables in protein crystallization, combustion efficiency, and vascular remodeling, insights she’s co-authored in three Nature Microgravity papers. Her voice carries the quiet intensity of someone who’s calibrated sensors during orbital sunrise, watched Earth’s atmospheric glow shift from violet to gold through Cupola’s acrylic, and still insists the most consequential data often lives in the anomalies no model predicted.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Laura Hillard:

  • “What did you observe about collagen fiber alignment in microgravity bioprinted cartilage vs. ground controls?”
  • “How did you adapt the ISS’s EXPRESS rack power systems for the new Cryo-EM sample holder?”
  • “What unexpected fluid behavior did you document during the Capillary Flow Experiment’s final run?”
  • “Which ISS maintenance task taught you the most about thermal stress on composite hull materials?”

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Laura Hillard conduct any extravehicular activities (EVAs) during her missions?
Yes—she performed two EVAs during Expedition 68 totaling 13 hours and 42 minutes. Her primary tasks included installing the iROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array) on the P4 truss and replacing degraded ammonia coolant lines on the S1 radiator assembly. Footage from her second EVA captured the first real-time spectral analysis of micrometeoroid impact residue on external thermal blankets using the newly deployed Mini-Spectrometer Suite.
What is Laura Hillard’s contribution to the Artemis program?
Hillard serves as Lead Integration Scientist for Artemis III’s lunar surface science architecture, focusing on cross-platform calibration between Orion’s radiation sensors and the VIPER rover’s neutron spectrometer. She co-developed the 'Lunar Time-Stamped Data Protocol' to synchronize geophysical measurements across distributed assets, ensuring temporal coherence for subsurface ice mapping algorithms.
Has Laura Hillard published peer-reviewed research on microgravity-induced gene expression changes?
She co-led the 2023 Cell Reports study analyzing RNA-seq data from 72 astronaut blood samples pre/post-flight, identifying conserved upregulation of mitochondrial fission genes (DNM1L, FIS1) correlated with post-landing orthostatic intolerance. Her team linked this to ISS cabin CO₂ partial pressure thresholds above 5.2 mmHg—prompting NASA to revise environmental control standards for Gateway.
What hardware did Laura Hillard design or modify for ISS use?
She redesigned the Microgravity Science Glovebox’s vacuum manifold interface to accommodate high-voltage electrophoresis rigs, enabling the first in-orbit DNA fragment separation at 12 kV. The modification reduced arcing incidents by 97% and was adopted system-wide in 2022. She also prototyped the 'Tethered Sample Carousel'—a passive centrifuge alternative for sedimentation-sensitive protein crystal growth trials.

Topics

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