Exocube – Exposure of Organisms/Organics Cube: a New

Astrobiology Science Conference 2015 (2015) 7479.pdf

EXOcube – Exposure of Organisms/Organics cube: A New Cubesat Based Life Sciences Exposure Platform for the International Space Station with In-situ Analytical Capabilities. A. Elsaesser1, A. Perfumo2, A.L. Mattioda3, A.J. Ricco3, C. Danelon4, D. Wagner2, F. Salama3, F. Canganella5, H.-G. Löhmannsröben6, H. Linnartz1, P. Ehrenfreund1, R.C. Quinn7, V. Parro8, W. L. Nicholson9, Z. Martins10 1Leiden University, NL (email: [email protected]), 2GFZ Potsdam, DE, 3NASA Ames Research Cen- ter, US, 4TU Delft, NL, 5University of Tuscia, IT, 6University of Potsdam, DE, 7SETI Insitute, US, 8CAB-INTA, ES, 9University of Florida, US, 10Imperial College London, UK

Introduction: How does life at different stages of • Providing valuable data for open issues concerning complexity respond to, and evolve in, space and plane- the survival of organisms to space conditions. tary conditions and what biomolecular mechanisms • Investigating photochemical processes of important come into play at the interface between biology and biomolecules with relevance for the adaptation of physics? EXOcube is aiming to address these questions life forms to space conditions and the origin of life. with far reaching implications for the interpretation of • Investigating the stability of primitive cell mem- the results of past and upcoming planetary exploration brane constituents under space conditions. missions. • Supporting planetary exploration by studying or- EXOcube represents a new generation of space ex- ganisms used for life support systems and organic posure platforms based on cubesat mini-space labora- components with a potential for radiation shielding tories equipped with in-situ analytical instrumentation. technology. EXOcube will combine the capability of in-situ online monitoring of organism responses to the spaceflight EXOcube is selected by the European Space Agency environment in real time, coupled with detailed post- (ESA) for the definition phase for installation on the flight sample analyses on the ground (see Figure 1). ISS in the 2017-2020 period. The immediate goals are to investigate (i) the response of life at different stages of complexity to space conditions and (ii) the role of membranes and membrane components as the interface between life and the phys- ical environment. Implementation: We plan to expose organisms, with different structural complexity from protocells to eukaryotic cells, to radiation levels in low Earth orbit and microgravity and to measure in-situ their biologi- cal response via reporter dyes. This, together with fur- ther sophisticated ground based post-flight analysis will allow us to study in detail the bio-molecular path- ways triggered by radiation events and microgravity and will help to identify key molecules and membrane Fig.1: EXOcube payload: EXOcube-Bio and EXOcube- components, which are involved in the adaptation of Chem, both investigating the effect of space radiation on these organisms to space conditions. membranes, either of live organisms or as chemical thin While leveraging existing astrobiology and astro- films. chemistry proven in-situ technology from the O/OREOS satellite and the OREOcube experiment on the ISS, EXOcube will have an advanced concept such as additional UV transmitting windows to expose organisms to a wider spectral range of radiation and a planned development for a miniaturized IR spectrome- ter, which will allow to investigate changes of relevant molecules. Impact: Outcomes from the EXOcube project will support current and upcoming ESA/NASA planetary and space exploration missions (e.g. ExoMars, Mars2020, JUICE) by: