Space Station Germ Testing Improves Wastewater Monitoring

Tracking the spread of COVID-19 through communities provided essential data for public-health officials and individuals to make informed decisions during the pandemic. One method that proved useful was collecting, concentrating, and testing municipal wastewater for the presence of the virus that caused the illness. As this testing ramped up, a technology developed for NASA to identify pathogens inside spacecraft saved time and produced dependable results on Earth.