Investigation of low-energy proton effects on aptamer performance for astrobiological applications

Biochips are promising instruments for the search for organic molecules in planetary environments. Nucleic acid aptamers are powerful affinity receptors known for their high affinity and specificity, and therefore are of great interest for space biochip development. A wide variety of aptamers have already been selected toward targets of astrobiological interest (from amino acids to microorganisms). We present a first study to test the resistance of these receptors to the constraints of the space environment. The emphasis is on the effect of cosmic rays on the molecular recognition properties of DNA aptamers. Experiments on beam-line facilities have been conducted with 2 MeV protons and fluences much higher than expected for a typical mission to Mars. Our results show that this irradiation process did not affect the performances of DNA aptamers as molecular recognition tools.     

The O/OREOS mission: first science data from the Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) payload

We report the first telemetered spaceflight science results from the orbiting Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) experiment, executed by one of the two 10?cm cube-format payloads aboard the 5.5?kg Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS) free-flying nanosatellite. The O/OREOS spacecraft was launched successfully to a 72° inclination, 650?km Earth orbit on 19 November 2010. This satellite provides access to the radiation environment of space in relatively weak regions of Earth's protective magnetosphere as it passes close to the north and south magnetic poles; the total dose rate is about 15 times that in the orbit of the International Space Station. The SESLO experiment measures the long-term survival, germination, and growth responses, including metabolic activity, of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to the microgravity, ionizing radiation, and heavy-ion bombardment of its high-inclination orbit. Six microwells containing wild-type (168) and six more containing radiation-sensitive mutant (WN1087) strains of dried B. subtilis spores were rehydrated with nutrient medium after 14 days in space to allow the spores to germinate and grow. Similarly, the same distribution of organisms in a different set of microwells was rehydrated with nutrient medium after 97 days in space. The nutrient medium included the redox dye Alamar blue, which changes color in response to cellular metabolic activity. Three-color transmitted intensity measurements of all microwells were telemetered to Earth within days of each of the 48?h growth experiments. We report here on the evaluation and interpretation of these spaceflight data in comparison to delayed-synchronous laboratory ground control experiments.     

波音董事长兼CEO詹姆士·麦克纳尼谈创新

<正> 创新对于詹姆士·麦克纳尼来说是一个非常有兴趣的话题。在接受美国《航空周刊与空间技术》(AwsT)采访的过程中,他明确地阐述了自己对创新定义的理解,解释了创新能力远比技术能力重要得多的原因。 AWST:你认为创新的最主要意义是什么? 麦克纳尼:创新的最大意义在于提高你的用户或者消费者的竞争力。衡量创新的影响力,主要是衡量创新对于客户和经济体的快速成长或者生产力的提高所产生的影响力有多大。实际上,创新越多,成本就会越低。也就是说,创新能够让企业在提高员工工资、增加再投资和提高人们的生活水平方     

卫星是否应该缩小

众议院和参议院之间关于是否发展新一代小型侦察卫星的辩论已使去年的情报审核议案搁置了数月。目前,美国空军的一个顾问委员会已经作了调查,他们说,目前令人骄傲而又开支巨大的美国情报和军事卫星体系应该最终由许多小型卫星组成的分散部署的系统所取代。空军科学顾问委员会的报告没有直接述及目前关于小型卫星     

Raman spectroscopic analysis of a desert cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. in response to UVB radiation

Cyanobacteria are capable of tolerating environmental extremes. To survive in extreme environments, cyanobacteria have developed the capability to adapt to a variety of stresses. For example, cyanobacteria have adopted a number of strategies with which to survive UV stress, including expression of UV-screening pigments and antioxidant systems. We have previously shown that several antioxidants are significantly expressed in Nostoc sp. by UVB irradiation. We report here that the content of UV-responsive biomarkers such as β-carotene and scytonemin can be easily detected by Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy with use of a small sample size and that the content of β-carotene is dependant on the UVB intensity and exposure time. Our results indicate that Raman spectroscopy may be a helpful tool to analyze UV-protective molecules of cyanobacterium in astrobiological studies without access to large sample sizes and complicated extractions, which are needed by other analytical techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.     

The PROCESS experiment: amino and carboxylic acids under Mars-like surface UV radiation conditions in low-earth orbit

The search for organic molecules at the surface of Mars is a top priority of the next Mars exploration space missions: Mars Science Laboratory (NASA) and ExoMars (ESA). The detection of organic matter could provide information about the presence of a prebiotic chemistry or even biological activity on this planet. Therefore, a key step in interpretation of future data collected by these missions is to understand the preservation of organic matter in the martian environment. Several laboratory experiments have been devoted to quantifying and qualifying the evolution of organic molecules under simulated environmental conditions of Mars. However, these laboratory simulations are limited, and one major constraint is the reproduction of the UV spectrum that reaches the surface of Mars. As part of the PROCESS experiment of the European EXPOSE-E mission on board the International Space Station, a study was performed on the photodegradation of organics under filtered extraterrestrial solar electromagnetic radiation that mimics Mars-like surface UV radiation conditions. Glycine, serine, phthalic acid, phthalic acid in the presence of a mineral phase, and mellitic acid were exposed to these conditions for 1.5 years, and their evolution was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy after their retrieval. The results were compared with data from laboratory experiments. A 1.5-year exposure to Mars-like surface UV radiation conditions in space resulted in complete degradation of the organic compounds. Half-lives between 50 and 150?h for martian surface conditions were calculated from both laboratory and low-Earth orbit experiments. The results highlight that none of those organics are stable under low-Earth orbit solar UV radiation conditions.     

星载铷原子钟用兰宝石灯的研制

由于具有现代技术水平的全玻璃铷光谱灯中 GPS 星载原子钟真空环境条件下使用时明显失效,提出了研制一种寿命比玻璃灯大一个数量级的新型灯的计划。采用兰宝石和类兰宝石材料的实际经验证明,用这些材料制成的灯将满足这种要求。因此,已经研制出几个这种类型的灯。初步结果表明,它们的工作特性几乎在各个方面都很类似于玻璃灯,但有两个例外:首先,点火特性稍有不同。其次,由于臭氧的产生而伴随有明显的紫外线输出。这个问题已经通过将一层薄的吸收紫外线的涂层粘到灯的外边而被排除了。最后结论是,目前已经有可供利用的对这些灯进行一年加速寿命测试所必需的工艺技术。