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Biological CubeSats: What Have We Learned so Far and What Is Next?Since Apollo 17 in 1972, NASA has sent no humans or other biological organisms outside of Earth's protective magnetosphere. Recently, NASA has set its sights on human exploration in deep space, with an ambitous plan to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2024 and to eventually land human missions on Mars. Such missions will require significant countermeasures, likely both technological and biomedical, to protect biology from chronic radiation exposure. CubeSats can inform these countermeasures by querying relevant space environments with model organisms.NASA has launched five biological CubeSat missions into low-Earth orbit (LEO). GeneSat-1 was launched in 2006 to study gene expression and increase our knowledge of how spaceflight affects microbes. Similar life-support technologies were then used in PharmaSat and O/OREOS, which launched in 2009 and 2010, respectively. PharmaSat contained optical systems to examine how yeast cells responded to an antifungal treatment. One of O/OREOS payloads, SESLO (Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms), housed dormant microorganisms, which were rehydrated on orbit to track alterations to growth and metabolism induced by microgravity and radiation. In 2014, NASA launched SporeSat to study the mechanisms of plant cell gravity sensing using lab-on-a-chip devices. Most recently, in 2017, NASA launched EcAMSat (E. coli AntiMicrobial Satellite), which investigated the effects of microgravity on antibiotic resistance of a pathogenic bacterium. Each one of these missions increased our understanding of the biological effects of spaceflight in LEO, while refining technologies and imparting valuable lessons to the next generation of CubeSats.CubeSats housing translational biological models are therefore ideal for defining the hazards of deep space travel, as they can provide critical data over relevant durations. BioSentinel, a next-generation deep-space CubeSat, is planned to launch as a secondary payload on Artemis 1 in 2020. BioSentinel will study the DNA damage response to deep space radiation in yeast.
Document ID
20190033204
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Santa Maria, Sergio R. (Wyle Labs., Inc. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Zea, Luis (Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Ricco, Tony (Stanford Univ. Stanford, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
November 25, 2019
Publication Date
November 20, 2019
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN75631
Meeting Information
Meeting: Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR)
Location: Denver, CO
Country: United States
Start Date: November 20, 2019
End Date: November 23, 2019
Sponsors: American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA14AB82C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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