18th IAA Humans in Space Symposium (2011)
2246.pdf
First Spaceflight Results from the Organism/ORganics Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS)
NanoSatellite Mission
A.J. Ricco,1 P. Ehrenfreund,2 R. Mancinelli,1 A. Mattioda,1 W.L. Nicholson,3 R. Quinn,4 O. Santos,1
D. Squires,1 N. Bramall,1 K. Bryson,1 J. Chittenden,1 A. Cook,1 E. Agasid,1 C. Beasley,1 G. Defouw,1
C. Friedericks,1 C. Kitts,5 M. Henschke,1 J.W. Hines,1 E. Luzzi,1 N. Mai,1 G. Minelli,1 M. McIntyre,1
M. Piccini,1 R. Rasay5, A. Schooley,1 L. Timucin,1 and B. Yost1
1
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA, antonio.j.ricco@nasa.gov, 2George Washington
University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA, 3University of Florida, Kennedy Space Center, FL, 32899, USA, 4SETI
Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, 95053, USA
The O/OREOS Nanosatellite Mission, presently in low Earth orbit, demonstrates multiple autonomous, in-situ
biological organism and organic specimen exposure-and-detection technologies aboard a free-flying nanosatellite.
Launched on November 19, 2010 from Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska, O/OREOS carried a pair of 10-cm-cube
experimental payload instruments into space. In the SESLO (Space Environment Survival of Living Organisms)
instrument, dormant Halorubrum chaoviatoris and Bacillus subtilis spores (each as wild-type and radiation-sensitive
mutant strains) were launched in the dry state; during space flight, nutrient media are added to sub-groups of
organism-containing microwells at three timepoints over the 6-month mission duration. Biological samples are
monitored by time-resolved optical density and colorimetry of a metabolic indicator dye to quantitatively measure
the effects upon biological organism survival, growth, and metabolism resulting from the combined exposure to
ionizing space radiation and microgravity, in order to better understand the survival, adaptation, and biological
evolution of life. In the SEVO (Space Environment Viability of Organics) payload experiment, four classes of
organic molecules (PAH, amino acid, metalloporphyrin, and quinone) are contained in hermetically sealed reaction
cells with one of four self-contained microenvironments of astrobiological relevance. The main objective of the
SEVO instrument is to use changes in UV and visible absorption spectra, for which the Sun serves as light source, to
quantitatively measure the effects upon organic specimens of the combined exposure to space radiation and UV and
visible light while in relevant space environments. We will present instrument ground test results as well as
preliminary spaceflight data to show how the O/OREOS Nanosatellite Mission addresses evolutionary questions,
human exploration challenges, and planetary protection issues while investigating the evolution of large
(bio)molecules in a variety of astrobiologically relevant space environments. We acknowledge support of the
O/OREOS mission by the NASA Astrobiology Small Payloads Program and the NASA Planetary Protection Office.