UCSD Institute To Study Blood Stem Cell Aging Aboard NASA Mission

In this handout image provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavour's final sortie on May 23, 2011 in Space. Paolo Nespoli - ESA/NASA via Getty Images

SAN DIEGO—The UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute will launch blood stem cells into space aboard a NASA support mission to the International Space Station Nov. 22 in an effort to study the impact of lack of gravity on human cellular aging.

According to NASA studies, when astronaut Scott Kelly returned from a year-long trip aboard the ISS, lab tests revealed changes in his blood cells. These sorts of cellular changes had been observed in blood before, but only after decades of human aging.