EXPOSE-E: an ESA astrobiology mission 1.5 years in space.
The multi-user facility EXPOSE-E was designed by the European Space Agency to enable astrobiology research in space (low-Earth orbit). On 7 February 2008, EXPOSE-E was carried to the International Space Station (ISS) on the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) platform in the cargo bay of Space Shuttle STS-122 Atlantis. The facility was installed at the starboard cone of the Columbus module by extravehicular activity, where it remained in space for 1.5 years. EXPOSE-E was returned to Earth with STS-128 Discovery on 12 September 2009 for subsequent sample analysis. EXPOSE-E provided accommodation in three exposure trays for a variety of astrobiological test samples that were exposed to selected space conditions: either to space vacuum, solar electromagnetic radiation at >110 nm and cosmic radiation (trays 1 and 3) or to simulated martian surface conditions (tray 2). Data on UV radiation, cosmic radiation, and temperature were measured every 10 s and downlinked by telemetry. A parallel mission ground reference (MGR) experiment was performed on ground with a parallel set of hardware and samples under simulated space conditions. EXPOSE-E performed a successful 1.5-year mission in space.
Radiation Biology Department, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center (DLR) , Cologne, Germany. elke.rabbow@dlr.de
Elke
E
Rabbow
Petra
P
Rettberg
Simon
S
Barczyk
Maria
M
Bohmeier
André
A
Parpart
Corinna
C
Panitz
Gerda
G
Horneck
Ralf
R
von Heise-Rotenburg
Tom
T
Hoppenbrouwers
Rainer
R
Willnecker
Pietro
P
Baglioni
René
R
Demets
Jan
J
Dettmann
Guenther
G
Reitz
D003359:Cosmic Radiation; D018534:Earth, Planet; D004867:Equipment Design; D018559:Exobiology; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D013026:Space Flight; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays