The Lichens experiment at Foton M-2 mission: Survival capacity in space
Abstract
Lichens are one of the most resistant organisms at Earth They live at very extreme environments in deserts Atacama desert high mountains Himalaya Antarctica Dry Valleys etc This is possible due to the symbiotic relationship between both constituents the algae and the fungui and to their poikilohidric nature characteristic that allows them to survive latent when environmental conditions are very extreme i e when UV radiation is very high temperatures are extreme and dryness exists If humidity returns and temperature tendencies turn near the optimum around 10 C dormant lichens starts to photosynthetice We have selected two epilithic lichen species for the LICHENS experiment which was included at the ESA Biopan-facility located at the outer shell of the satellite Foton M-2 launched into low Earth orbit the 31th of Mai 2005 from Baikonur Russia On of this species was Rhizocarpon geographicum a bipolar epilithic lichen which grows at high mountain regions e g Sierra de Gredos Central Spain with continental climate has been systematically studied in the natural environment Plataforma de Gredos at 2000 m altitude as well as under simulated space conditions at the space simulation facilities of the DLR The sensitivity of the photosynthetic system PSII to the different environmental conditions dryness including vacuum treatment high temperature fluctuations high UV intensity was fluorometrically measured with a MINI PAM Walz Germany The lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum was
- Publication:
-
36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006cosp...36.3636D