ESA EuTEF Module takes up its position on the Space Station

The European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) attached to the ESA Columbus module of the International Space Station during orbital flight. 

Credit: DLR, Institute of Aerospace Medicine /Dr. Gerda Horneck

In the movies, humans often fear invaders from Mars.

These days, scientists are more concerned about invaders to Mars, in the form of micro-organisms from Earth.

Three recent scientific papers examined the risks of interplanetary exchange of organisms using research from the International Space Station.

All three, Survival of Rock-Colonizing Organisms After 1.5 Years in Outer Space, Resistance of Bacterial Endospores to Outer Space for Planetary Protection Purposes and Survival of Bacillus pumilus Spores for a Prolonged Period of Time in Real Space Conditions, have appeared in Astrobiology Journal.

Organisms hitching a ride on a spacecraft have the potential to contaminate other celestial bodies, making it difficult for scientists to determine whether a life form existed on another planet or was introduced there by explorers.

So it's important to know what types of micro-organisms from Earth can survive on a spacecraft or landing vehicle.

Currently, spacecraft landing on Mars or other planets where life might exist must meet requirements for a maximum allowable level of microbial life, or bioburden.

These acceptable levels were based on studies of how various life forms survive exposure to the rigors associated with space travel.

Kasthuri J. Venkateswaran

"If you are able to reduce the numbers to acceptable levels, a proxy for cleanliness, the assumption is that the life forms will not survive under harsh space conditions," explains Kasthuri J. Venkateswaran, a researcher with the Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a co-author on all three papers.

That assumption may not hold up, though, as recent research has shown that some microbes are hardier than expected, and others may use various protective mechanisms to survive interplanetary flights.

These are electron micrographs of Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 spores on aluminum before and after exposure to space conditions. 

Credit: P. Vaishampayan et al., Survival of Bacillus pumilus Spores for a Prolonged Period of Time in Real Space Conditions. Astrobiology Vol 12, No 5, 2012.

Spore-forming bacteria are of particular concern because spores can withstand certain sterilisation procedures and may best be able to survive the harsh environments of outer space or planetary surfaces.

Spores of Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 have shown especially high resistance to techniques used to clean spacecraft, such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation and peroxide treatment.

When researchers exposed this hardy organism to a simulated Mars environment that kills standard spores in 30 seconds, it survived 30 minutes.

For one of the recent experiments, Bacillus pumilus SAFR-032 spores were exposed for 18 months on the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF), a test facility mounted outside the space station.

"After testing exposure to the simulated Mars environment, we wanted to see what would happen in real space, and EuTEF gave us the chance," says Venkateswaran.

"To our surprise, some of the spores survived for 18 months." These surviving spores had higher concentrations of proteins associated with UV radiation resistance and, in fact, showed elevated UV resistance when revived and re-exposed on Earth.

The findings also provide insight into how robust microbial communities are able to survive in extremely hostile regions on Earth and how these microbes are affected by radiation.

ESA Metop Weather Satellite: EADS Airbus maintain their monopoly position

The Metop weather satellites fly pole to pole, sampling conditions in the atmosphere

The competition to build Europe's next generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites has been won by EADS Airbus.

The big aerospace concern was declared the winner at the latest meeting of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Industrial Policy Committee (IPC).

A contract valued in the hundreds of millions of euros will be signed by ESA and EADS Airbus in due course.

Two of the Metop first generation satellites have so far been launched

The existing Metop series, as it is known, has a profound impact on the quality of weather forecasting.

The satellites' sensors gather profiles of atmospheric conditions, layer by layer.

Studies comparing all the different types of meteorological observations (including surface weather stations, balloons and aeroplanes, etc) have found Metop data to have the biggest single contribution to the accuracy of the 24-hour look ahead, at around 25%.

The improved forecasts of storms and other extreme events are estimated to be worth billions of euros annually in terms of lives saved and property damage avoided.

The Metop weather satellites looks down through the different layers in the atmosphere

Thursday's IPC decision is therefore a critically important one for the continent, by ensuring there is continuity of data when the existing series of Metop weather satellites is retired.

"Metop first generation has established itself as an essential series of satellites for weather forecasting. It gives the most detailed measurements from space for such purposes," explained ESA programme manager Graeme Mason.

Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket raised into position

This NASA handout photo shows the Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket seen as it is raised into position at launch Pad-0A, on December 16, 2013, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia

With the space station cooling system hobbled and a commercial cargo launch waiting in the wings, NASA Tuesday prepared all options but said no decision had yet been made on whether spacewalk repairs would be needed.

Instead, Orbital Sciences rolled its Antares rocket out to the launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia in preparation for a Thursday launch of its Cygnus supply ship at 9:19 pm (0219 GMT).

Meanwhile, NASA television showed images of astronauts preparing their white spacesuits in case they are called upon to step outside the space station and repair the broken equipment cooling system.

A US space agency spokesman told reporters a final decision could come later Tuesday or early Wednesday.

On Wednesday of last week, NASA learned that a broken valve had interfered with the cooling loops that regulate the equipment temperature aboard the space station.

The six-man crew was never in danger due to the problem, NASA said.

If the agency decides the manuevers it has made from the ground to orchestrate a temporary fix—by manipulating valves and shutting down some equipment—are stable, the Orbital launch could go ahead.

Orbital Sciences' privately owned cargo ship would then start its journey on its first regular commercial mission to supply the orbiting outpost Thursday, berthing at the space station on Sunday at 4:52 am (0952 GMT).

The company did a demonstration launch and berthing at the ISS in September, showing it was capable of the mission and paving the way for more supply trips.

When NASA lost its capacity to reach space with the retirement of the 30-year shuttle program in 2011, Orbital and SpaceX stepped in to fill the void with their privately made, unmanned supply spacecraft.

Both companies have lucrative contracts with the US space agency to ferry supplies to the ISS.

Xenoturbella bocki worm Keeps Its Position as Progenitor of Humankind

Xenoturbella bocki worm. 

Credit: Hiroaki Nakano

Researchers are arguing about whether or not the Xenoturbella bocki worm is the progenitor of humankind, but new studies indicate that this is actually the case.

Swedish researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the Gothenburg Natural History Museum are involved in the international study.

The results have been published in the journal of Nature Communications.

The Xenoturbella bocki worm is a one-centimetre long worm with a simple body plan that is only found regularly by the west coast of Sweden.

The worm lacks a brain, sexual organs and other vital organs.

Zoologists have long disagreed about whether or not the Xenoturbella bocki worm holds a key position in the animal tree of life.

If it does have a key position, it is very important for the understanding of the evolutionary development of organs and cell functions, such as stem cells, for example.

The question is therefore not only important in the field of biology, but also for potential biomedical applications.

Matthias Obst

"It's absolutely fantastic that one of the key evolutionary organisms in the animal kingdom lives right on the doorstep of the University of Gothenburg's Centre for Marine Research, and this is actually the only place in the whole world where you can do research on the creature," says Matthias Obst from the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.

Genetic studies indicate that the Xenoturbella bocki worm belongs to the group of deuterostomes, the exclusive group to which human's belongs.

"So maybe we're more closely related to the Xenoturbella bocki worm, which doesn't have a brain, than we are to lobsters and flies, for example," says Matthias Obst.

Even though the worm does not particularly resemble man, development biologists have referred to the fact that the early embryonic development of the worm may display similarities with the group to which man belongs.

But the problem has been that no one has previously been able to see the development of the creature.

But now a group of researchers at the Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences and the Gothenburg Natural History Museum have succeeded in doing what no one else has done before: to isolate newly born little Xenoturbella bocki worms.

"And these new-born worms revealed absolutely no remnants at all of advanced features! Instead, they exhibit similarities with quite simple, ancient animals such as corals and sponges," says Matthias Obst.

The studies also reveal the value of the University of Gothenburg's marine stations for important basic research.

"The Lovén Centre at the University of Gothenburg is the only place in the whole world where you can study this paradoxical animal (in Swedish called 'Paradox worm'). That's one reason why researchers come from all over the world to Gullmarsfjorden to solve one of the great mysteries in the evolution of animal life," says Matthias Obst.

Reference 
Xenoturbella bocki exhibits direct development with similarities to Acoelomorpha. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1537 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2556