微生物太空歼灭战

国际空间站根据航天器微生物产生、传播和腐蚀作用等三个密切关联的阶段，从微生物源控制、舱内气体环境控制和结构表面控制等三个模式，构建了航天器微生物综合控制的整体解决方案。针对微生物源，使用抗菌清洁用品、粪便消毒处理、废弃物真空密封等方式；针对舱内气体环境，采用循环过滤除尘灭菌系统等技术完成对舱内环境的灭菌功能；针对结构表面，通过材料抗菌技术、表面抗菌及洗消技术控制结构表面微生物，最终实现微生物控制。     

意航天员微博晒照片

2010年12月15日,意大利航天员保罗·内斯波利(Paolo Nespoli)作为国际空间站第26长期考察组成员,和俄罗斯航天员德米特里·孔德拉季耶夫(DmitryKondratyev)、美国航天员凯瑟琳·科尔曼(Catherine Coleman)一起,搭乘俄罗斯"联盟TMA-20"飞船飞上太空,进驻国际空间站,开始为期近半年的太空生活。保罗到达国际空间站后,像常驻过太空的大多数航天员一样,在忙而有序的工作间隙,会把自己工作生活的情况通过微博向地面同胞们传达,特别是他们总会发布一些在太空中拍到的精美照片。因为角度的新颖、设备的高端,这些照片往往一出现就会吸引人们的眼球,成为人们关注的焦点。     

载人航天器手动控制系统设计

航天员手动控制系统可作为自动控制和地面处置的备份手段。为了提高航天员在载人航天器驻留期间应对设备故障和突发事件的处置能力,采用系统工程方法对航天员手动控制系统进行了设计。通过地面试验测试,证明该手动控制系统设计能够有效地降低设备故障以及突发事件给航天员安全带来的风险。     

国外空间站环控与生保系统及其比较研究（一）

环境控制与生命保障系统是空间站上的主要系统之一。人在空间站能停留多长时间，空间站能容纲多少航天员在上面生活与工作，主要取决于该系统的性能，本文重点介绍国际空间站和“和平”号空间站的环境控制与生命保障系统。同时对两者进行了全面的比较研究。     

空间站航天服装备的微生物控制

“自由”号空间站（SSF）的建造和使用需要较长时间停留在空间，而且液冷通风服（LCVG）和航天服装备（SSA）气密服需要长期重复使用。由于这些条件需要重新规定微生物的控制程序，所以采用了确定内衣、抗微生物涂层，以及清洁各种航天服部件方案的控制程序。通过使用标准的微生物技术和研究早期的美国航天程序经验，制定了一项基线微生物控制流程，并进行了一系列人穿着SSA测试以确定此流程的有效性。结果表明，使用抗微生物涂层内衣，会改善LCVG的卫生状况，使用消毒剂可以有效杀死SSA气密层上的细菌。此外，在航天服选择区域进行集中强制通风，可显著地降低微生物生存能力。     

在太空洗衣服

我们都知道，空间站上的水资源十分有限而宝贵，而且在微重力环境中洗衣机无法正常工作。那么，在空间站日夜忙碌的航天员衣服脏了怎么处理呢？将来会不会有专门的太空洗衣机来为他们效劳呢？     

航天服材料的静电吸附效应地面试验研究

航天员在轨出舱作业时，其穿戴的航天服面临空间尘粒污染的静电吸附增强效应问题，空间尘粒污染会对航天员的健康及仪器设备的安全稳定运行造成威胁。文章分析了空间站–航天服静电起电模型，研究了污染物粒子带电机理及带电尘粒在电场作用下的静电吸附过程；在此基础上搭建空间站–航天服电场的静电吸附效应地面模拟装置，并开展了4种航天服表面典型材料对空间中尘埃粒子的静电吸附效应试验验证。通过对试验结果的分析，提出后续应在航天员出舱活动中设计静电消除装置、处理航天服主体材料表面保持航天服洁净等建议。     

舱外活动过程中代谢的评价

舱外活动（EVA）是现代空间任务必不可少的部分。在EVA期间，有如下大量的问题要解决：维修作业、实验研究、额外太阳电池的安装，桁架的装配和新设备的实验，以及使航天员自由移动的移动系统。航天员成功完成这些操作的结果已经表明：在空间站项目上通过提高EVA强度来提高轨道操作的效率是可能的，在EVA期间进行许多科学实验也是可行的。对EVA期间航天员行为的分析表明，到目前为止，航天员在外太空的工作仍然是航天员在太空飞行时完成的最危险的工作之一。安全和高效的EVA需要航天员EVA作业时代谢率或能量消耗的客观信息，以便进一步完善EVA技术和开发先进的设备。代谢评估还是一种控制EVA航天员工作效率和优化作息制度的有用方法。在EVA的时候，俄罗斯评价实时代谢率的二种方法如下：     

空间站空间因特网与空间通信链路设计

为改善在空间站长期值守的航天员的业务生活,提出建立空间站网吧,为航天员提供因特网服务的构想。为此分析研究空间站空间因特网服务系统及其关键技术,提出空间站空间因特网服务系统构建方案。结合这一系统构建方案,一是研究解决了支持复杂异构网络运行的空间因特网网络协议设计技术,空间站空间因特网直接采用TCP/IP协议,并通过系统设计,较好地克服了TCP/IP协议不能适应空间通信链路的难题,支持采用基于TCP/IP协议的商用货架(COTS)软、硬件产品,可明显降低空间站空间因特网服务系统建设与维护成本;二是研究解决了涉及空间站测控通信网运行安全和空间信息安全的空间通信链路设计技术,空间站在同一条空间通信链路同时传输空间因特网数据和空间站测控通信数据,空间通信链路采用CCSDS的AOS协议,并通过建立虚拟的物理信道,解决了空间因特网数据和空间站测控通信数据的安全隔离问题,能满足空间站测控通信网运行安全和空间信息安全的要求。     

国际空间站航天员进行修补技术演习

俄罗斯地面飞行控制中心发言人伦金2009年1月16日说，国际空间站的航天员当天在站内实施了修补技术演习，以应对空间站可能发生的泄漏事件。参与修补技术演习的包括俄罗斯航天员尤里·隆恰科夫、美国航天员迈克·芬克以及桑德拉·马格努斯。     

载人航天器密封舱微生物防控技术体系框架研究概述

载人航天器密封舱内环境适宜航天员工作和生活,同时也给空间微生物提供了生长繁殖的有利条件。而空间微重力和电磁辐射等环境会加大空间微生物对材料的腐蚀能力。因此,必须对空间微生物防控技术进行体系化研究。文章从空间微生物菌种的采集和鉴定、空间环境下微生物对航天材料的腐蚀机理、载人航天材料抗菌涂层选择以及微生物控制技术等方面对微生物防控体系进行阐述,可以作为开展载人航天器空间微生物防控技术研究的参考。     

Following the kinetics: iron-oxidizing microbial mats in cold icelandic volcanic habitats and their rock-associated carbonaceous signature

Icelandic streams with mean annual temperatures of less than 5 °C, which receive the cationic products of basaltic rock weathering, were found to host mats of iron-cycling microorganisms. We investigated two representative sites. Iron-oxidizing Gallionella and iron-reducing Geobacter species were present. The mats host a high bacterial diversity as determined by culture-independent methods. β-Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, α-Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were abundant microbial taxa. The mat contained a high number of phototroph sequences. The carbon compounds in the mat displayed broad G and D bands with Raman spectroscopy. This signature becomes incorporated into the weathered oxidized surface layer of the basaltic rocks and was observed on rocks that no longer host mats. The presence of iron-oxidizing taxa in the stream microbial mats, and the lack of them in previously studied volcanic rocks in Iceland that have intermittently been exposed to surface water flows, can be explained by the kinetic limitations to the extraction of reduced iron from rocks. This type of ecosystem illustrates key factors that control the distribution of chemolithotrophs in cold volcanic environments. The data show that one promising sample type for which the hypothesis of the existence of past life on Mars can be tested is the surface of volcanic rocks that, previously, were situated within channels carved by flowing water. Our results also show that the carbonaceous signatures of life, if life had occurred, could be found in or on these rocks.     

Abundance and diversity of microbial inhabitants in European spacecraft-associated clean rooms

The determination of the microbial load of a spacecraft en route to interesting extraterrestrial environments is mandatory and currently based on the culturable, heat-shock-surviving portion of microbial contaminants. Our study compared these classical bioburden measurements as required by NASA's and ESA's guidelines for the microbial examination of flight hardware, with molecular analysis methods (16S rRNA gene cloning and quantitative PCR) to further develop our understanding of the diversity and abundance of the microbial communities of spacecraft-associated clean rooms. Three samplings of the Herschel Space Observatory and its surrounding clean rooms were performed in two different European facilities. Molecular analyses detected a broad diversity of microbes typically found in the human microbiome with three bacterial genera (Staphylococcus, Propionibacterium, and Brevundimonas) common to all three locations. Bioburden measurements revealed a low, but heterogeneous, abundance of spore-forming and other heat-resistant microorganisms. Total cell numbers estimated by quantitative real-time PCR were typically 3 orders of magnitude greater than those determined by viable counts, which indicates a tendency for traditional methods to underestimate the extent of clean room bioburden. Furthermore, the molecular methods allowed the detection of a much broader diversity than traditional culture-based methods.     

Critical issues in connection with human planetary missions: protection of and from the environment.

Activities associated with human missions to the Moon or to Mars will interact with the environment in two reciprocal ways: (i) the mission needs to be protected from the natural environmental elements that can be harmful to human health, the equipment or to their operations: (ii) the specific natural environment of the Moon or Mars should be protected so that it retains its value for scientific and other purposes. The following environmental elements need to be considered in order to protect humans and the equipment on the planetary surface: (i) cosmic ionizing radiation, (ii) solar particle events; (iii) solar ultraviolet radiation; (iv) reduced gravity; (v) thin atmosphere; (vi) extremes in temperatures and their fluctuations; (vii) surface dust; (viii) impacts by meteorites and micrometeorites. In order to protect the planetary environment. the requirements for planetary protection as adopted by COSPAR for lander missions need to be revised in view of human presence on the planet. Landers carrying equipment for exobiological investigations require special consideration to reduce contamination by terrestrial microorganisms and organic matter to the Greatest feasible extent. Records of human activities on the planet's surface should be maintained in sufficient detail that future scientific experimenters can determine whether environmental modifications have resulted from explorations. Grant numbers: 14056/99/NL/PA.     

Results of the early orbit manoeuvres of the ampte-uks

The Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers (AMPTE) program consists of three satellites which were launched on 16th August 1984. The scientific aim of the mission is to inject lithium and barium tracer ions inside and outside the Earth's magnetosphere and to detect and monitor these ions as they diffuse through the inner magnetosphere. The first of these three satellites, the U.S. Charge Composition Explorer (CCE) was launched into an elliptical orbit of apogee 8 R_e. The other two satellites are the West German Ion Release Module (IRM) and the U.K. Subsatellite (UKS), both of which were launched on the same vehicle into a highly elliptical orbit of apogee 18 R_e. At discreet intervals during the mission the IRM will release ions into the solar wind, and the movement of these ions will be monitored by the UKS. Depending on the particular scientific requirement, the UKS has to be positioned accurately at a given distance behind the IRM. Initially the UKS has to be located 100 km behind the IRM, and held there for ～9 months. It will then be moved a distance of ～1 R_e behind the IRM. In order to manoeuvre the UKS around its orbit, a cold gas jet system is incorporated on the satellite, allowing impulses to be applied both along and perpendicular to the orbit velocity vector. The orbit control system also has to cater for relative orbit changes due to air drag at perigee, as the IRM and the UKS have different $\text{area}\text{mass}$ ratios. This paper presents an account of the orbit control system implemented on the UKS, together with the mathematical approach adopted, and results from manoeuvres made in the first weeks of the mission.     

A thermodynamic analysis of microbial growth experiments

The common thread of energy release suggests that diverse microbial metabolic processes can be compared through thermodynamic analyses. The resulting energy and power requirements can provide quantitative constraints on habitability. Because previous thermodynamic analyses have focused on the minimum amount of energy needed for the growth of a microorganism or community, the focus of this study is to gain a fuller understanding of the microbial response to highly habitable conditions. This communication summarizes the results of a thermodynamic analysis of the energy and power consumed by microorganisms in experiments that were designed to optimize growth. Reports of microbial growth experiments taken from the literature were combined with speciation and standard state calculations to assess the overall Gibbs energy change during the experiments. Results show that similar numbers of cells (10(9) to 10(10) ) were produced in these experiments regardless of the duration of log phase growth (from <2 to >200 hours) or the total Gibbs energy change [from 1.3-29.6 kJ (mol electrons transferred)(1)]. As a result, optimal growth conditions appear to produce between 10(10) and 10(14) cells per watt of power consumed.     

Microbial fuel cells applied to the metabolically based detection of extraterrestrial life

Since the 1970s, when the Viking spacecrafts carried out experiments to detect microbial metabolism on the surface of Mars, the search for nonspecific methods to detect life in situ has been one of the goals of astrobiology. It is usually required that a methodology detect life independently from its composition or form and that the chosen biological signature point to a feature common to all living systems, such as the presence of metabolism. In this paper, we evaluate the use of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for the detection of microbial life in situ. MFCs are electrochemical devices originally developed as power electrical sources and can be described as fuel cells in which the anode is submerged in a medium that contains microorganisms. These microorganisms, as part of their metabolic process, oxidize organic material, releasing electrons that contribute to the electric current, which is therefore proportional to metabolic and other redox processes. We show that power and current density values measured in MFCs that use microorganism cultures or soil samples in the anode are much larger than those obtained with a medium free of microorganisms or sterilized soil samples, respectively. In particular, we found that this is true for extremophiles, which have been proposed as potential inhabitants of extraterrestrial environments. Therefore, our results show that MFCs have the potential to be used for in situ detection of microbial life.     

Transfer orbits to/from the Lagrangian points in the restricted four-body problem

The well-known Lagrangian points that appear in the planar restricted three-body problem are very important for astronautical applications. They are five points of equilibrium in the equations of motion, what means that a particle located at one of those points with zero velocity will remain there indefinitely. The collinear points (L₁, L₂ and L₃) are always unstable and the triangular points (L₄ and L₅) are stable in the present case studied (Earth–Sun system). They are all very good points to locate a space-station, since they require a small amount of ΔV (and fuel), the control to be used, for station-keeping. The triangular points are especially good for this purpose, since they are stable equilibrium points.In this paper, the planar restricted four-body problem applied to the Sun–Earth–Moon–Spacecraft is combined with numerical integration and gradient methods to solve the two-point boundary value problem. This combination is applied to the search of families of transfer orbits between the Lagrangian points and the Earth, in the Earth–Sun system, with the minimum possible cost of the control used. So, the final goal of this paper is to find the magnitude of the two impulses to be applied in the spacecraft to complete the transfer: the first one when leaving/arriving at the Lagrangian point and the second one when arriving/living at the Earth.The dynamics given by the restricted four-body problem is used to obtain the trajectory of the spacecraft, but not the position of the equilibrium points. Their position is taken from the restricted three-body model. The goal to use this model is to evaluate the perturbation of the Sun in those important trajectories, in terms of fuel consumption and time of flight. The solutions will also show how to apply the impulses to accomplish the transfers under this force model.The results showed a large collection of transfers, and that there are initial conditions (position of the Sun with respect to the other bodies) where the force of the Sun can be used to reduce the cost of the transfers.     

Some ecological mechanisms to generate habitability in planetary subsurface areas by chemolithotrophic communities: the Río Tinto subsurface ecosystem as a model system

Chemolithotrophic communities that colonize subsurface habitats have great relevance for the astrobiological exploration of our Solar System. We hypothesize that the chemical and thermal stabilization of an environment through microbial activity could make a given planetary region habitable. The MARTE project ground-truth drilling campaigns that sampled cryptic subsurface microbial communities in the basement of the Río Tinto headwaters have shown that acidic surficial habitats are the result of the microbial oxidation of pyritic ores. The oxidation process is exothermic and releases heat under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. These microbial communities can maintain the subsurface habitat temperature through storage heat if the subsurface temperature does not exceed their maximum growth temperature. In the acidic solutions of the Río Tinto, ferric iron acts as an effective buffer for controlling water pH. Under anaerobic conditions, ferric iron is the oxidant used by microbes to decompose pyrite through the production of sulfate, ferrous iron, and protons. The integration between the physical and chemical processes mediated by microorganisms with those driven by the local geology and hydrology have led us to hypothesize that thermal and chemical regulation mechanisms exist in this environment and that these homeostatic mechanisms could play an essential role in creating habitable areas for other types of microorganisms. Therefore, searching for the physicochemical expression of extinct and extant homeostatic mechanisms through physical and chemical anomalies in the Mars crust (i.e., local thermal gradient or high concentration of unusual products such as ferric sulfates precipitated out from acidic solutions produced by hypothetical microbial communities) could be a first step in the search for biological traces of a putative extant or extinct Mars biosphere.     

Formation of higher plant component microbial community in closed ecological system

Closed ecological systems (CES) place at the disposal of a researcher unique possibilities to study the role of microbial communities in individual components and of the entire system. The microbial community of the higher plant component has been found to form depending on specific conditions of the closed ecosystem: length of time the solution is reused, introduction of intrasystem waste water into the nutrient medium, effect of other component of the system, and system closure in terms of gas exchange. The higher plant component formed its own microbial complex different from that formed prior to closure. The microbial complex of vegetable polyculture is more diverse and stable than the monoculture of wheat. The composition of the components' microflora changed, species diversity decreased, individual species of bacteria and fungi whose numbers were not so great before the closure prevailed. Special attention should be paid to phytopathogenic and conditionally pathogenic species of microorganisms potentially hazardous to man or plants and the least controlled in CES. This situation can endanger creation of CES and make conjectural existence of preplanned components, man, specifically, and consequently, of CES as it is.