Bacterial spores under simulated martian conditions - the BIOPAN experiment MARSTOX II of the FOTON M-3 mission
- Paper number
IAC-08.A1.6.7
- Author
Dr. Petra Rettberg, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Elke Rabbow, DLR German Aerospace Center, Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Ralf Moeller, DLR, Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Corinna Panitz, RWTH Aachen, Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Gerda Horneck, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany
- Coauthor
Dr. Helmut Lammer, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
- Coauthor
Dr. Thierry Douki, CEA, France
- Coauthor
Prof. Jean Cadet, CEA, France
- Coauthor
Mrs. Cornelia Meyer, Museum fuer Naturkunde, Germany
- Year
2008
- Abstract
The experiment MARSTOX II was a further step in the study of the Responses of Organisms to the Martian Environment (ROME) which already started with first ground-based experiments in Mars simulation chambers and with the space experiment MARSTOX I, flown in 2005 in the ESA facility BIOPAN on FOTON. The survivability of bacterial spores of B. subtilis, a well-characterized model system for highly resistant microorganisms, were investigated under the extreme environmental conditions as they exist on the surface of Mars. By use of exterrestrial UV radiation and cut-off filters the photoprotection and potential UV-phototoxicity of different minerals of the Martian soil were investigated. In MARSTOX II two further aspects were addressed (i) the influence of different concentrations of dust in the Martian atmosphere, which change the solar irradiance on the surface significantly, and (ii) the survivability of spores under martian atmosphere and pressure exposed to a Mars-like spectral irradiance. After exposure in space the analysis of the samples was performed at CEA in Grenoble, D, and at DLR in Cologne, D, together with parallel samples from the corresponding ground control experiment performed in the space simulation facilities at DLR. As biological endpoints in these investigations survival and UV-induced DNA-photoproducts were analysed. The results from MARSTOX II gave new insights into the survivability of terrestrial organisms on Mars and will help to define adequate planetary protection measures for spacecrafts with exobiological experiments like Mars landers.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)