Lichens survive in space: results from the 2005 LICHENS experiment

This experiment was aimed at establishing, for the first time, the survival capability of lichens exposed to space conditions. In particular, the damaging effect of various wavelengths of extraterrestrial solar UV radiation was studied. The lichens used were the bipolar species Rhizocarpon geographicum and Xanthoria elegans, which were collected above 2000 m in the mountains of central Spain and as endolithic communities inhabiting granites in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Lichens were exposed to space in the BIOPAN-5 facility of the European Space Agency; BIOPAN-5 is located on the outer shell of the Earth-orbiting FOTON-M2 Russian satellite. The lichen samples were launched from Baikonur by a Soyuz rocket on May 31, 2005, and were returned to Earth after 16 days in space, at which time they were tested for survival. Chlorophyll fluorescence was used for the measurement of photosynthetic parameters. Scanning electron microscopy in back-scattered mode, low temperature scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to study the organization and composition of both symbionts. Confocal laser scanning microscopy, in combination with the use of specific fluorescent probes, allowed for the assessment of the physiological state of the cells. All exposed lichens, regardless of the optical filters used, showed nearly the same photosynthetic activity after the flight as measured before the flight. Likewise, the multimicroscopy approach revealed no detectable ultrastructural changes in most of the algal and fungal cells of the lichen thalli, though a greater proportion of cells in the flight samples had compromised membranes, as revealed by the LIVE/DEAD BacLight Bacterial Viability Kit. These findings indicate that most lichenized fungal and algal cells can survive in space after full exposure to massive UV and cosmic radiation, conditions proven to be lethal to bacteria and other microorganisms. The lichen upper cortex seems to provide adequate protection against solar radiation. Moreover, after extreme dehydration induced by high vacuum, the lichens proved to be able to recover, in full, their metabolic activity within 24 hours.     

A systems engineering environment for integrated satellite development

Space mission implementation faces a very dynamic environment with fast-paced information technology advancement and shrinking space budgets. A more focused use of decreasing public investments in space requires a cost reduction over their entire life cycle, up to the end of the useful life of a spacecraft. The anticipation of cost, schedule, risk and performance requirements from all over the product life cycle to the early stages of product development is generally recognised as a necessary condition to reduce life cycle cost. In order to cope with the intrinsic functional complexity of space products, such requirements engineering activity must be performed in a structured way within a systems engineering approach. This paper aims to describe how Cradle, a commercial systems engineering environment software package, can be used for integrated satellite development, taking into consideration functional and life cycle process requirements. Cradle has requirements management, system modelling, performance modelling, configuration management and document generation capabilities integrated in the same environment. Also, the paper provides some examples of application and highlights how Cradle can enhance the satellite development related activities performed by the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE).     

天基雷达特殊背景下的目标跟踪技术研究

天基雷达是雷达置于卫星平台上的,用于地面及空中目标探测与跟踪的一种新型雷达系统,研究跟踪卫星频繁交接情形下的目标跟踪技术对于天基雷达系统跟踪性能的实现具有重要意义。针对天基雷达特殊背景下的目标跟踪问题,基于圆形地球模型的假设条件,给出了目标跟踪的实现方法,包括跟踪平台交接判别方法、目标状态方程及观测方程的建立方法、目标跟踪算法的选择及目标跟踪的实现过程。在给出理论分析的同时,进一步通过计算机仿真结果证明了所给方法的正确性。最后给出结论与展望,指出该方法同样适用于双基地天基雷达体制及快速响应系统。     

空间失稳目标线阵雷达成像机理及三维重建

利用线阵激光雷达载荷小、抗干扰能力强等优势，研究空间失稳目标动态测量技术。探究线阵激光雷达成像机理，建立空间失稳目标运动模型，提出基于双切片法的目标可测区域提取机制，实现线阵激光雷达对空间失稳目标的驻留观测扫描；以ICP(Iterative closest point)配准结果为先验信息，提出逆序重建方案，建立重建点云精度以及平均密度评价机制，分析数据冗余对重建精度的影响，采用采样降维的方法进行配准重建计算，提高重建结果精度；最后进行仿真实验检验分析，实验结果表明空间目标可测部位数据提取合理准确，数据输出频率可达 1 Hz ，重建结果满足任务指标要求，重建点云平均密度达到19 mm，重建点云精度达到90 mm，为地面验证及在轨应用提供数据支撑和参考。     

The structure of resting bacterial populations in soil and subsoil permafrost

The structure of individual cells in microbial populations in situ of the Arctic and Antarctic permafrost was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy methods and compared with that of cyst-like resting forms generated under special conditions by the non-spore-forming bacteria Arthrobacter and Micrococcus isolated from the permafrost. Electron microscopy examination of microorganisms in situ revealed several types of bacterial cells having no signs of damage, including "dwarf" curved forms similar to nanoforms. Intact bacterial cells in situ and frozen cultures of the permafrost isolates differed from vegetative cells by thickened cell walls, the altered structure of cytoplasm, and the compact nucleoid, and were similar in these features to cyst-like resting forms of non-spore-forming "permafrost" bacterial strains of Arthrobacter and Micrococcus spp. Cyst-like cells, being resistant to adverse external factors, are regarded as being responsible for survival of the non-spore-formers under prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures and can be a target to search for living microorganisms in natural environments both on the Earth and on extraterrestrial bodies.     

The simulated silicification of bacteria--new clues to the modes and timing of bacterial preservation and implications for the search for extraterrestrial microfossils

Evidence of microbial life on Earth has been found in siliceous rock formations throughout the geological and fossil record. To understand the mechanisms of silicification and thus improve our search patterns for evidence of fossil microbial life in rocks, a series of controlled laboratory experiments were designed to simulate the silicification of microorganisms. The bacterial strains Pseudomonas fluorescens and Desulphovibrio indonensis were exposed to silicifying media. The experiments were designed to determine how exposure time to silicifying solutions and to silicifying solutions of different Si concentration affect the fossilization of microbial biofilms. The silicified biofilms were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in combination with energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Both bacterial species showed evidence of silicification after 24 h in 1,000 ppm silica solution, although D. indonensis was less prone to silicification. The degree of silicification of individual cells of the same sample varied, though such variations decreased with increasing exposure time. High Si concentration resulted in better preservation of cellular detail; the Si concentration was more important than the duration in Si solution. Even though no evidence of amorphous silica precipitation was observed, bacterial cells became permineralized. High-resolution TEM analysis revealed nanometer-sized crystallites characterized by lattice fringe-spacings that match the (10-11) d-spacing of quartz formed within bacterial cell walls after 1 week in 5,000 ppm silica solution. The mechanisms of silicification under controlled laboratory conditions and the implication for silicification in natural environments are discussed, along with the relevance of our findings in the search for early life on Earth and extraterrestrial life.     

On the contribution of space medicine in the public health care

With the beginning of space era, a new branch of medicine has arisen and has been developing along with human exploration of outer space. And even though space medicine mainly faces the same problems as traditional medicine--cosmonauts health care and their high efficiency--this branch, has its own features, associated with the unusual factors of space flight, of which weightlessness is the major one. During the development of manned cosmonautics (duration of a human stay in space has reached already 438 days), methods of cosmonauts medical support and monitoring of their condition have been developed, knowledge of human possibilities and methods of process of organism adaptation to various and frequently severe conditions of external environment have increased. All this led to the fact that nowadays space medicine can become useful for improvement of human health care not only in space but also on the Earth. Moreover, the problem of implementation of cosmonautics achievements, and in particular of space medicine, in practice of public health care presents one of the most important issues concerning human health care. It is also connected with public opinion which is more and more concerned about the efficiency of significant expenses on space activities, especially lately. People often are set by the questions: what has space given, what fruits has space research provided to mankind, which results of this research can be used on the Earth already today for improvement of their life, for discussion of many difficult earthly problems? In terms of using cosmonautics possibilities, its achievements for health care and treatment, it is possible to define a few branches, in which purposeful studies are carried out.     

An extensive phase space for the potential martian biosphere

We present a comprehensive model of martian pressure-temperature (P-T) phase space and compare it with that of Earth. Martian P-T conditions compatible with liquid water extend to a depth of ～310?km. We use our phase space model of Mars and of terrestrial life to estimate the depths and extent of the water on Mars that is habitable for terrestrial life. We find an extensive overlap between inhabited terrestrial phase space and martian phase space. The lower martian surface temperatures and shallower martian geotherm suggest that, if there is a hot deep biosphere on Mars, it could extend 7 times deeper than the ～5?km depth of the hot deep terrestrial biosphere in the crust inhabited by hyperthermophilic chemolithotrophs. This corresponds to ～3.2% of the volume of present-day Mars being potentially habitable for terrestrial-like life.     

空间科学规划及对航天运输系统的需求

空间科学不仅能够推动我国在基础科学研究领域取得重大科学突破,还能够有效牵引、带动航天高新技术的发展。中国科学院空间科学战略性先导科技专项是"十二五"时期我国空间科学领域最重要的系统性进展,开启了中国空间科学发展的新篇章。"十三五"时期,我国将继续研制、发射一系列新的空间科学卫星,这对航天运输系统提出了新的技术发展需求。发展空间科学必将推动我国的航天强国、世界科技强国建设进程。     

A combinatorial approach to biochemical space: description and application to the redox distribution of metabolism

Redox chemistry is central to life on Earth. It is well known that life uses redox chemistry to capture energy from environmental chemical energy gradients. Here, we propose that a second use of redox chemistry, related to building biomass from environmental carbon, is equally important to life. We apply a method based on chemical structure to evaluate the redox range of different groups of terrestrial biochemicals, and find that they are consistently of intermediate redox range. We hypothesize the common intermediate range is related to the chemical space required for the selection of a consistent set of metabolites. We apply a computational method to show that the redox range of the chemical space shows the same restricted redox range as the biochemicals that are selected from that space. By contrast, the carbon from which life is composed is available in the environment only as fully oxidized or reduced species. We therefore argue that redox chemistry is essential to life for assembling biochemicals for biomass building. This biomass-building reason for life to require redox chemistry is in addition (and in contrast) to life's use of redox chemistry to capture energy. Life's use of redox chemistry for biomass capture will generate chemical by-products-that is, biosignature gases-that are not in redox equilibrium with life's environment. These potential biosignature gases may differ from energy-capture redox biosignatures.     

Recent and future activities of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs

This article discusses the development, and the current and future work, of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. The Office is active both as a source of information, education and training on space and as a secretariat to COPUOS and its Subcommittees; it also performs a role in the monitoring and implementation of various space-related legal treaties. Presently—and as part of the drive to use space to improve life on Earth—the bulk of its work is guided by the Vienna Declaration produced at UNISPACE III.     

SETI and space law: jurisprudential and philosophical considerations for humankind in relation to extraterrestrial life

The impact of confirmation of life outside the small ecosphere we call Earth will be profound on the terran population as a whole. The “Declaration Of Principles Concerning Activities Following The Detection Of Extraterrestrial Intelligence” and the IAA Position Paper “A Decision Process for Examining the Possibility of Sending Communications To Extraterrestrial Civilizations: A Proposal” provide a firm basis for the development of a new body of space law. It is important that space law design and prepare for implementation of a protocol to guide the nations of the world concerning the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), through the advice and cooperation of scientists, jurisprudential, philosophical, political and sociological scholars. Through the IAA, the IISL, the United Nations and other organizations, formal documentation should be drafted to encode the Declaration of Principles and IAA Position Paper referred to above. In this way, a body of metalaw can be developed to enable human communication with non-terrestrial life. This paper discusses the philosophical and sociological parameters of terran understanding of our place in the universe which will dramatically impact jurisprudential thought and action in light of the realization of the infinitesimally small niche that humankind occupies. A discussion of these interdisciplinary concerns will be necessary to realize a metalegal approach to interstellar communications and relations.     

Why Raman spectroscopy on Mars?--a case of the right tool for the right job

We provide a scientific rationale for the astrobiological investigation of Mars. We suggest that, given practical constraints, the most promising locations for the search for former life on Mars are palaeolake craters and the evaporite deposits that may reside within them. We suggest that Raman spectroscopy offers a promising tool for the detection of evidence of former (or extant) biota on Mars. In particular, we highlight the detection of hopanoids as long-lived bacterial cell wall products and photosynthetic pigments as the most promising targets. We further suggest that Raman spectroscopy as a fibre optic-based instrument lends itself to flexible planetary deployment.     

Impact seeding and reseeding in the inner solar system

Assuming that asteroidal and cometary impacts onto Earth can liberate material containing viable microorganisms, we studied the subsequent distribution of the escaping impact ejecta throughout the inner Solar System on time scales of 30,000 years. Our calculations of the delivery rates of this terrestrial material to Mars and Venus, as well as back to Earth, indicate that transport to great heliocentric distances may occur in just a few years and that the departure speed is significant. This material would have been efficiently and quickly dispersed throughout the Solar System. Our study considers the fate of all the ejected mass (not just the slowly moving material), and tabulates impact rates onto Venus and Mars in addition to Earth itself. Expressed as a fraction of the ejected particles, roughly 0.1% and 0.001% of the ejecta particles would have reached Venus and Mars, respectively, in 30,000 years, making the biological seeding of those planets viable if the target planet supported a receptive environment at the time. In terms of possibly safeguarding terrestrial life by allowing its survival in space while our planet cools after a major killing thermal pulse, we show via our 30,000- year integrations that efficient return to Earth continues for this duration. Our calculations indicate that roughly 1% of the launched mass returns to Earth after a major impact regardless of the impactor speed; although a larger mass is ejected following impacts at higher speeds, a smaller fraction of these ejecta is returned. Early bacterial life on Earth could have been safeguarded from any purported impact-induced extinction by temporary refuge in space.     

Strategy for capturing of a tumbling space debris

In general space debris objects do not possess much convenient features and are non-cooperative. In such cases, since the conditions for capture are not favorable, tracking errors will lead to loading, and momentum transfer will occur during the capture process.In most cases, detailed mass and inertial characteristics of the target are unknown, either because design details are unavailable or due to changes as a result of damage sustained when failure occurred or gradual degradation over the years, and this makes impedance matching of the capture arm force control system difficult.This led to us to devise a “joint virtual depth control” algorithm for robot arm control, which brakes the rotation of a target with unknown inertia. This paper deals with a removal work strategy and control method for capturing and braking a tumbling, non-cooperative target space debris.We propose a new brush type contactor as end-effecter of a robot arm for reducing the rotational rate of the target debris. As a means for relieving the loads generated during target tapping, in addition to joint compliance control we propose a new control method that controls the arm tip force according to a contact force profile.     

Enhancing Europe's capabilities in space research and technology: Towards a European Space Board

With the proposed implementation of a European space policy and the prospect of several major undertakings in the space domain the European Union should decide to set up a high-level independent body and confer on it the authority and means to provide expert advice on space-related subjects to its institutions, policy makers and agencies, as well as to the space research community. Although the political and legislative situation in the USA is different from that in Europe, such a body has existed there since 1959 and has proven most useful. The current situation in Europe is analysed and the arguments for setting up such a structure are presented. It is suggested that the foundations for this new advisory structure can be found in the existing European Space Science Committee, the European Science Foundation's expert committee on space research. A structure and remit is proposed for such a body and elements of its mode and means of operations are discussed.     

Gradient generation for parametric control models

This paper presents a numerical method for approximating the solution of complex optimal control problems by a constrained function minimization problem in a finite dimensional space. This end is achieved by approximating only the control functions by a finite set of parameters. The computation of gradients with respect to the parameters modeling the control is explored in depth. A hybrid technique combining the rapid gradient generation capability of the method of gradients with the rapid convergence characteristics of finite-dimensional, variable-metric function minimization algorithms is presented. An algorithm for mapping the impulsive response gradient trajectory generated by the method of gradients into a gradient vector of the performance index with respect to the parameters modeling the control function is presented. The class of local parameterizations is shown to have a distinct computational advantage, from a gradient generation point of view, over the class of continuous polynomial approximations. Detailed results are presented for piecewise linear parametric control models. An algebraic transformation is presented for improving inaccurate gradients generated by a widespread computer implementation of the method of gradients.     

Automatic rendez-vous scheme proposed for an unmanned (or manned) vehicle with a space station

A method for automatic rendez-vous between an active vehicle, and a passive orbiting vehicle (typically a space station on a circular orbit) is presented. The main interest of the method is the simplicity of system implementation, and the small requirements on vehicle maneuvres and on-board computations, rather than in the mathematical optimization of fuel expenditure or elapsed time.The chaser is at first put on a circular orbit, lower and nearly coplanar to the orbit of the target (space station). An open-loop transfer of the chaser is performed, in order to put it in a window appropriated for automatic rendez-vous. When the relative distance of the two vehicles is small enough, a radar is used on the chaser for continuous determination of relative position and speed. An on-board computer is used then to derive the moments of application of corrective thrusts and their orientation. The scheme leads to a series of corrections nearly equally spaced in time, and the chaser approaches the target exponentially. Out of plane errors are also corrected. When the vehicles are close, the docking phase is initiated, which can be performed either automatically or manually. Even in manual control, an automatic loop is used in order to give the pilot simple motions in response to the control.     

Observations from a 4-year contamination study of a sample depth profile through Martian meteorite Nakhla

Morphological, compositional, and biological evidence indicates the presence of numerous well-developed microbial hyphae structures distributed within four different sample splits of the Nakhla meteorite obtained from the British Museum (allocation BM1913,25). By examining depth profiles of the sample splits over time, morphological changes displayed by the structures were documented, as well as changes in their distribution on the samples, observations that indicate growth, decay, and reproduction of individual microorganisms. Biological staining with DNA-specific molecular dyes followed by epifluorescence microscopy showed that the hyphae structures contain DNA. Our observations demonstrate the potential of microbial interaction with extraterrestrial materials, emphasize the need for rapid investigation of Mars return samples as well as any other returned or impactor-delivered extraterrestrial materials, and suggest the identification of appropriate storage conditions that should be followed immediately after samples retrieved from the field are received by a handling/curation facility. The observations are further relevant in planetary protection considerations as they demonstrate that microorganisms may endure and reproduce in extraterrestrial materials over long (at least 4 years) time spans. The combination of microscopy images coupled with compositional and molecular staining techniques is proposed as a valid method for detection of life forms in martian materials as a first-order assessment. Time-resolved in situ observations further allow observation of possible (bio)dynamics within the system.