Heidelberg 2006 – scientific programme

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EP: Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 19: Astrobiologie

EP 19.1: Invited Talk

Thursday, March 16, 2006, 14:00–14:30, B

Astrobiological experiments in Low Earth Orbit - Experiments and research facilities in space — •Petra Rettberg — DLR, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Radiation Biology Division, Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln

Besides astrobiological laboratory experiments where one or a few combinations of physical and chemical parameters of interest can be studied in detail, it is necessary to use the space environment as a tool for astrobiogical experiments as well. ESA offers different space facilities allowing the investigation of the combined effects of microgravity, extraterrestrial solar UV radiation, galactic cosmic radiation and vacuum on biological objects. Examples are the EXPOSE facility on the ISS and the BIOPAN facility. For the study of the responses of organisms to space and to martian environment the survivability of terrestrial resistant microbial forms, spores of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, exposed to different subsets of the extreme environmental parameters in space and on Mars was investigated in the BIOPAN facility onboard of the Russian earth-orbiting Foton M-2 satellite. This satellite was launched with a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Mai 31, 2005. The landing took place on June 16. After exposure in space the survival as well as the mutation induction was analyzed in the laboratory together with parallel samples from the corresponding ground control experiment performed in the space simulation facilities of DLR. The results of this experiment provide new insights into the adaptation to environmental extremes on Earth or other planets which define the principal limits of life and at the same time bear the potential for the evolution and distribution of life.