We put something in the pipes that stops bacteria from sticking
Adrienne Shea's experiment tests nonfouling polymer coatings to prevent bacterial biofilm formation in recycled water systems aboard spacecraft. Water-borne diseases kill thousands and cost billions annually in the U.S., making this research relevant beyond space exploration to vulnerable populations.
- Experiment launched August 24 to International Space Station, will run for 30 days in zero gravity
- Water-borne diseases kill 6,630 Americans annually and cost healthcare system $3.3 billion
- Adrienne Shea is 41, single mother of two, first woman in her Purdue engineering class of 50
- Shea used trichlorosilane chemical to bond nonfouling polymers to steel surfaces
- Shea begins job at Chobani in Twin Falls, Idaho, spring 2026 after completing doctorate remotely
A University of Idaho doctoral student's five-year research on preventing bacteria adhesion in spacecraft water systems launched to the International Space Station, with applications for Earth-based water safety affecting millions.
Adrienne Shea handed her eight-year-old son a launch pass from Cape Canaveral and told him to take it to school. She wanted his classmates to know that his mother's work was about to leave the planet.
On August 24, Shea and Matthew Bernards, her faculty advisor at the University of Idaho, stood in the VIP section of a tall building at the cape and watched five years of research ignite into the sky. Their experiment, called Vandal Voyager II, would spend the next month suspended 220 miles above Earth in the weightlessness of the International Space Station. The work centers on a problem that sounds small until you realize how many people depend on clean water: bacteria that stick to the insides of pipes.
The experiment itself is modest in size—a rectangular box measuring ten by ten by thirty centimeters—but the stakes are not. Inside that box sit two strains of bacteria commonly found in wastewater aboard the ISS. These bacteria are exposed to stainless steel samples coated with nonfouling polymers, a type of chemistry that prevents bacteria from forming the irreversible bonds that let them colonize surfaces. The researchers also included an uncoated steel sample as a control, to measure the difference. The polymers don't kill bacteria; they simply stop it from sticking and forming biofilms. Any bacteria that remains suspended in the water gets filtered out during the recycling process that all spacecraft water must undergo—water is too heavy and too expensive to launch fresh from Earth.
Bernards explained the real-world relevance with clarity. Water-borne diseases in the United States kill roughly 6,630 people annually, cause more than seven million illnesses, and cost the healthcare system 3.3 billion dollars. Most of us can tolerate the bacteria in our pipes. Some people cannot. Shea, when her eight-year-old asks what she does, tells him: we put something in the pipes that stops bacteria from sticking there, to protect the people who would get sick. It is a simple way of saying that her work is about vulnerability and protection.
Shea is not a traditional doctoral student. She is forty-one years old, a single mother of two, and she came to this work after years of jobs that never quite got her ahead. She earned her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in Indianapolis in just three years, but she was the only woman in a graduating class of about fifty. Her peers dismissed her. At Idaho, everything changed. Bernards offered her a position she could not refuse—the moment he mentioned NASA, she said, the competition fell away.
The hardest part of the project fell to Shea: figuring out how to bond a uniform polymer coating to steel so that the chemistry would hold. Previous researchers had used a material that didn't work well. Shea spent considerable time testing alternatives until she found trichlorosilane, a chemical that could treat the steel and make the polymers adhere. Her first year was, by her own account, complete confusion. The learning curve was steep. But she persisted.
Vandal Voyager II is the second iteration of this research. The first version, launched in December 2021, tested polymer coatings on surfaces astronauts touch—railings, door handles. That experiment involved third- through fifth-grade students at J. Russell Elementary School in Moscow, who received kits with random polymers, cotton swabs, and nutrient broth to test which coatings best prevented bacteria growth. Undergraduate students at Idaho then designed a container to see if those polymers would perform in space as well as they had on Earth. Bernards believes the real gap in current spacecraft safety is not bacteria from skin contact—astronauts can wipe surfaces with bleach—but bacteria that grows in the water processing system itself. There is a hypothesis that bacteria thrives better in reduced gravity, but it has not yet been proven.
Shea will finish her doctorate remotely in spring 2026. She has already accepted a position as a chemical engineer at Chobani, the yogurt company, in Twin Falls, Idaho. She will not be making yogurt. Instead, she will work on their water systems and waste treatment—work she describes as far more complex than most people realize. She chose to stay in Idaho partly because it is home, but also because the university showed her something she will not forget. Two years ago, her daughter became severely ill and had to be airlifted by helicopter to Spokane. The university paid the bill, covered her hospital costs of ten thousand dollars, and made sure Shea had extra money to offset the burden. They rallied behind her completely. She cannot speak highly enough of what they did.
Notable Quotes
You throw NASA out there and right away the competition falls away— Adrienne Shea, on why she chose to pursue her doctorate at University of Idaho
They completely rallied behind me. So I cannot speak highly enough of all the things they've done for me during my time here— Adrienne Shea, on the University of Idaho's support when her daughter required emergency medical care
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does bacteria in spacecraft water matter? Astronauts aren't drinking from the tap like we do.
Because water is precious in space. Every drop has to be recycled—it's too heavy and expensive to launch fresh. So the same water gets used over and over. If bacteria colonizes the pipes, it contaminates the whole system. On Earth, we can just send up more water. In space, you can't.
But couldn't they just clean it more aggressively?
They do clean it. But the bacteria that sticks to surfaces—biofilm—is harder to reach. The polymers Shea tested don't kill bacteria. They just prevent it from sticking in the first place. It's a different approach. Preventive rather than reactive.
Why does this matter for people on Earth?
Because the same bacteria that grows in spacecraft water grows in our pipes. Six thousand people die from water-borne diseases in the U.S. every year. Most of us are fine. But immunocompromised people, children, the elderly—they're vulnerable. If these coatings work in space, they could protect vulnerable populations here.
Shea spent five years on this. What was the hardest part?
Getting the coating to stick uniformly to steel. Previous researchers used a chemical that didn't work well enough. Shea had to figure out what would actually bond the polymer to the metal without failing. She tested different chemicals until she found trichlorosilane. Her first year was confusion. But she kept going.
She's not a typical graduate student.
No. She's forty-one, raised two kids mostly alone, worked jobs that never paid enough. She went back to school because she had to. At Purdue, she was the only woman in her engineering class. People dismissed her. At Idaho, Bernards saw her differently. He offered her NASA. That changed everything.
What happens now?
The experiment runs for thirty days in zero gravity. They'll see if bacteria actually grows differently up there, like the hypothesis suggests. Then Shea finishes her doctorate remotely and moves to Twin Falls to work on water systems for Chobani. She's staying in Idaho. The university took care of her when her daughter was sick. She won't forget that.