Experimental substantiation of planetary quarantine in orbital flight
Abstract
Planetary quarantine is one of the outstanding issues faced by planners of future exploration missions. Evaluation of risks associated with the hypothesized transfer of biological material through the interplanetary space has been listed among the high-priority goals of space research. To address this issue, the Institute for Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences has developed a program of and equipment for space experiment BIORISK with the idea of extended exposure of various microorganisms on the outer surface of the International Space Station {ISS}. The experiment is to provide new data about patterns and limits of phenotypic adaptation and genotype modifications, if any, in bacterial-fungal associations that form typical microbiota found on the structural materials used in space vehicles. The first extended {18 months} exposure of microorganisms-artificial substrates systems in open space comparable with the length of voyage on the Earth-Mars-Earth itinerary demonstrated preservation of the viability of spore forms of bacteria and microscopic fungi. Also, after exposure to the extremities of open space most of the survived strains were shown to have mobilized a protection-adaptation mechanism consisting of intensification of the enzyme and biochemical activities. The present, second stage of BIORISK is being conducted with a broader variety of biological objects. The conditions of near-Earth orbits are entirely different from the conditions the exploration crew and their microbial companions will have to live in during the voyage, mainly in terms of values and spectra of radiation doses. For this reason, indication of space exploration trajectories with the help of different taxonomic groups of microorganisms will be essential to defining approaches to planetary quarantine and astrobiology.
- Publication:
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37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008cosp...37.2250N