Life sciences flight hardware development for the International Space Station.

During the construction phase of the International Space Station (ISS), early flight opportunities have been identified (including designated Utilization Flights, UF) on which early science experiments may be performed. The focus of NASA's and other agencies' biological studies on the early flight opportunities is cell and molecular biology; with UF-1 scheduled to fly in fall 2001, followed by flights 8A and UF-3. Specific hardware is being developed to verify design concepts, e.g., the Avian Development Facility for incubation of small eggs and the Biomass Production System for plant cultivation. Other hardware concepts will utilize those early research opportunities onboard the ISS, e.g., an Incubator for sample cultivation, the European Modular Cultivation System for research with small plant systems, an Insect Habitat for support of insect species. Following the first Utilization Flights, additional equipment will be transported to the ISS to expand research opportunities and capabilities, e.g., a Cell Culture Unit, the Advanced Animal Habitat for rodents, an Aquatic Facility to support small fish and aquatic specimens, a Plant Research Unit for plant cultivation, and a specialized Egg Incubator for developmental biology studies. Host systems (Figure 1A, B: see text), e.g., a 2.5 m Centrifuge Rotor (g-levels from 0.01-g to 2-g) for direct comparisons between g and selectable g levels, the Life Sciences Glovebox for contained manipulations, and Habitat Holding Racks (Figure 1B: see text) will provide electrical power, communication links, and cooling to the habitats. Habitats will provide food, water, light, air and waste management as well as humidity and temperature control for a variety of research organisms. Operators on Earth and the crew on the ISS will be able to send commands to the laboratory equipment to monitor and control the environmental and experimental parameters inside specific habitats. Common laboratory equipment such as microscopes, cryo freezers, radiation dosimeters, and mass measurement devices are also currently in design stages by NASA and the ISS international partners.     

Closed Artificial ecosystems as a means of ecosystem studies for Earth and space needs.

Closed Artificial ecosystems (CAES) have good prospects for wide use as new means for quantitative studies of different types of both natural ecosystems and man-made ones. The paper deals with the discussion of three points of CAES applications. The first one is of importance for theoretical ecology development and is connected with bringing together "holistic" and "merological" approaches in ecosystems studies. Using CAES, we can combine both approaches, taking into account the biotic turnover of limiting substrates which few in number even for complicated natural ecosystems. The second CAES use concerns the development of "ecosystems health" concept and application of a key-factor-approach for the indication and measurement of healthy unhealthy state and functioning of ecosystems or their links. The third use is more of an applied nature, oriented to the intensification of bioremediation or biodepollution processes in different types of ecosystems, including the global biosphere. Grant numbers: N 99-04-96017, N25.     

The effects of microgravity on induced mutation in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

We examined whether microgravity influences the induced-mutation frequencies through in vivo experiments during space flight aboard the space shuttle Discovery (STS-91). We prepared dried samples of repair-deficient strains and parental strains of Escherichia (E.) coli and Saccharomyces (S.) cerevisiae given DNA damage treatment. After culture in space, we measured the induced-mutation frequencies and SOS-responses under microgravity. The experimental findings indicate that almost the same induced-mutation frequencies and SOS-responses of space samples were observed in both strains compared with the ground control samples. It is suggested that microgravity might not influence induced-mutation frequencies and SOS-responses at the stages of DNA replication and/or DNA repair. In addition, we developed a new experimental apparatus for space experiments to culture and freeze stocks of E. coli and S. cerevisiae cells.     

The effect of gravity on surface temperature and net photosynthetic rate of plant leaves.

To clarify the effects of gravity on heat/gas exchange between plant leaves and the ambient air, the leaf temperatures and net photosynthetic rates of plant leaves were evaluated at 0.01, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 G of 20 seconds each during a parabolic airplane flight. Thermal images of leaves were captured using infrared thermography at an air temperature of 26 degrees C, a relative humidity of 15% and an irradiance of 260 W m-2. The net photosynthetic rates were determined by using a chamber method with an infrared gas analyzer at an air temperature of 20 degrees C, a relative humidity of 50% and a photosynthetic photon flux of 0.5 mmol m-2 s-1. The mean leaf temperature increased by 1 degree C and the net photosynthetic rate decreased by 13% with decreasing gravity levels from 1.0 to 0.01 G. The leaf temperature decreased by 0.5 degree C and the net photosynthetic rate increased by 7% with increasing gravity levels from 1.0 to 2.0 G. Heat/gas exchanges between leaves and the ambient air were more retarded at lower gravity levels. A restricted free air convection under microgravity conditions in space would limit plant growth by retarding heat and gas exchanges between leaves and the ambient air.     

Human response to high-background radiation environments on Earth and in space

The main long-term objective of the space exploration program is the colonization of the planets of the Solar System. The high cosmic radiation equivalent dose rate represents an inescapable problem for the safe establishment of permanent human settlements on these planets. The unshielded equivalent dose rate on Mars ranges between 100 and 200 mSv/year, depending on the Solar cycle and altitude, and can reach values as high as 360 mSv/year on the Moon. The average annual effective dose on Earth is about 3 mSv, nearly 85% of which comes from natural background radiation, reduced to less than 1 mSv if man-made sources and the internal exposure to Rn daughters are excluded. However, some areas on Earth display anomalously high levels of background radiation, as is the case with thorium-rich monazite bearing sand deposits where values 200–400 times higher than the world average can be found. About 2% of the world’s population live above 3 km and receive a disproportionate 10% of the annual effective collective dose due to cosmic radiation, with a net contribution to effective dose by the neutron component which is 3–4 fold that at sea level. Thus far, epidemiological studies have failed to show any adverse health effects in the populations living in these terrestrial high-background radiation areas (HBRA), which provide an unique opportunity to study the health implications of an environment that, as closely as possibly achievable on Earth, resembles the chronic exposure of future space colonists to higher-than-normal levels of ionizing radiation. Chromosomal aberrations in the peripheral blood lymphocytes from the HBRA residents have been measured in several studies because chromosomal damage represents an early biomarker of cancer risk. Similar cytogenetic studies have been recently performed in a cohort of astronauts involved in single or repeated space flights over many years. The cytogenetic findings in populations exposed to high dose-rate background radiation on Earth or in space will be discussed.     

Which solar EUV indices are best for reconstructing the solar EUV irradiance?

The solar EUV irradiance is of key importance for space weather. Most of the time, however, surrogate quantities such as EUV indices have to be used by lack of continuous and spectrally resolved measurements of the irradiance. The ability of such proxies to reproduce the irradiance from different solar atmospheric layers is usually investigated by comparing patterns of temporal correlations. We consider instead a statistical approach. The TIMED/SEE experiment, which has been continuously operating since February 2002, allows for the first time to compare in a statistical manner the EUV spectral irradiance to five EUV proxies: the sunspot number, the f10.7, Ca K, and Mg II indices, and the He I equivalent width.     

Current status of X-ray spectrometer development in the SELENE project

The X-ray spectrometer (XRS) on the SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer) spacecraft, XRS, will observe fluorescent X-rays from the lunar surface. The energy of the fluorescent X-ray depends on the elements of which the lunar soil consists, therefore we can determine elemental composition of the upper most lunar surface. The XRS consists of three components: XRF-A, SOL-B, and SOL-C. XRF-A is the main sensor to observe X-rays from the lunar surface. SOL-B is direct monitor of Solar X-ray using Si-PIN photodiode. SOL-C is another Solar X-ray monitor but observes the X-rays from the standard sample attached on the base plate. This enables us to analyze by a comparative method similar to typical laboratory XRF methods. XRF-A and SOL-C adopt charge coupled device as an X-ray detector which depletion layer is deep enough to detect X-rays. The X-ray spectra were obtained by the flight model of XRS components, and all components has been worked well to analyze fluorescent X-rays. Currently, development of the hardware and software of the XRS has been finished and we are preparing for system integration test for the launch.     

Lower-mesospheric inversion layers over brazilian equatorial region using TIMED/SABER temperature profiles

Lower-mesospheric inversion layers (MILs) were studied using the temperature profiles observed by TIMED/SABER over Cariri (7.5°S, 36.5°W), Brazil, in 2005. A total 175 MILs were identified with the maximum occurrence in April and October and the minimum in January and July. The lower MIL is located in a height region from 70 to 90 km, with the peak at around 83 ± 4 km with the temperature of 205 ± 5 K, and the thickness of 4–10 km. The results show large amplitudes of MILs during equinoxes and minimum in solstices, with a clear semiannual variation. A general feature of lower MIL in monthly mean profile was observed twice a year, one from February to May, and the other from August to October with a downward shift of the top level. These results suggest that formation and long persistence of MIL is an important factor to investigate propagation of atmospheric gravity waves in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere (MLT) region.     

Response of Hainan GPS ionospheric scintillations to the different strong magnetic storm conditions

Using the GPS ionospheric scintillation data at Hainan station (19.5°N, 109.1°E) in the eastern Asia equatorial regions and relevant ionospheric and geomagnetic data from July 2003 to June 2005, we investigate the response of L-band ionospheric scintillation activity over this region to different strong magnetic storm conditions (Dst < −100 nT) during the descending phase of the solar cycle. These strong storms and corresponding scintillations mainly took place in winter and summer seasons. When the main phase developed rapidly and reached the maximum near 20–21 LT (LT = UT + 8) after sunset, scintillations might occur in the following recovery phase. When the main phase maximum occurred shortly after midnight near 01–02 LT, following the strong scintillations in the pre-midnight main phase, scintillations might also occur in the post-midnight recovery phase. When the main phase maximum took place after 03 LT to the early morning hours no any scintillation could be observed in the latter of the night. Moreover, when the main phase maximum occurred during the daytime hours, scintillations could also hardly be observed in the following nighttime recovery phase, which might last until the end of recovery phase. Occasionally, scintillations also took place in the initial phase of the storm. During those scintillations associated with the nighttime magnetic storms, the height of F layer base (h’F) was evidently increased. However, the increase of F layer base height does not always cause the occurrence of scintillations, which indicates the complex interaction of various disturbance processes in ionosphere and thermosphere systems during the storms.