Profiles & Overviews | Flight Hardware | Links

Key Research Questions

• What are the acceptable numbers and kinds of microorganisms in air, water, food, on surfaces, the crew, and other biological hosts?
• What is the effect of space flight on microorganisms?
• What is the effect of long-duration space flights on the human immune system?
• What onboard instrumentation is needed to assess microbiological problems in the environment and crew during long-duration missions?
• What measures can be taken to control excessive numbers of microorganisms in space habitats and crew?

Experiment/Mission Information

Microbiological Investigations on Mir

Source: Duane L. Pierson   Format: Microsoft Word
Download the file (64 kb)

Description: This document gives an overview of microbiology research conducted by NASA on the Mir space station. The overall goals of the program are defined and each mission is described individually. (Posted on 10/00)

Experiment Information from the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive

Source: NASA Life Sciences Data Archive   Format: HTML

Description: This link to the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive provides a list of relevant descriptions of flight experiments investigating Microbiology.

Mission Information from the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive

Source: NASA Life Sciences Data Archive   Format: HTML

Description: This link to the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive provides a list of relevant descriptions of space flight missions that carried experiments investigating Microbiology.

Profiles & Overviews

A Bad Influence on Microbes?

Source: Science@NASA   Format: HTML
View the article

Description: Scientists are working to understand why salmonella bacteria and possibly other pathogens become more virulent when grown in simulated microgravity. Studying these changes may allow scientists to gain new insight into how microbes cause disease, perhaps pointing out new ways to combat pathogens with drugs and vaccines. (Posted on 04/05)

Dead Sea Microbe Masters DNA Repair

Source: Science@NASA   Format: HTML
View the article

Description: A microbe native to the Dead Sea, Halobacterium, is a master at DNA repair, which is crucial to surviving radiation. This article describes the experiments conducted with the microbe to better understand how these repair mechanisms work. From this knowledge, scientists will be able to learn more about DNA repair occurs in humans, which will be important for space exploration. (Posted on 10/04)

Technology Transfer - Microbe Detector

Source: NASA Headquarters   Format: Microsoft Word
Download the file (32 kb)

Description: This document describes the adaptation of Microbe Detectors from the Voyager and Shuttle missions to medical applications on Earth. (Posted on 10/00)

Flight Hardware

Biorack US2 Experiment Hardware

Source: NASA
Format: PDF
Download the file (72 kb)

Description: The Biorack US2 Experiment Hardware, flown on the International Microgravity Laboratory 1 payload on the STS-42 mission, was designed to study the effects of microgravity and radiation on a cellular and genetic structures. (Excerpt from Life into Space 1991-1998) (Posted on 01/01)

Biorack US3 Experiment Hardware

Source: NASA
Format: PDF
Download the file (84 kb)

Description: The Biorack US3 Experiment Hardware, flown on the International Microgravity Laboratory 1 payload on the STS-42 mission, was designed to study the effects of microgravity on cell cultures. (Excerpt from Life into Space 1991-1998) (Posted on 01/01)

Lysogenic Bacteria Experiment Package

Source: NASA
Format: PDF
Download the file (40 kb)

Description: The Lysogenic Bacteria Experiment Package, developed to grow bacteria cultures for the study of interactions between radiation and flight conditions, flew on U.S. Biosatellite missions. (Excerpt from Life into Space 1965-1990) (Posted on 12/00)

Pelomyxa Experiment Package

Source: NASA
Format: PDF
Download the file (40 kb)

Description: The Pelomyxa (Amoeba) Experiment Package, designed to support the study of nutrition and growth of cells in microgravity, flew on U.S. Biosatellite missions. (Excerpt from Life into Space 1965-1990) (Posted on 12/00)

Space Tissue Loss-A (STL-A) Module

Source: NASA
Format: PDF
Download the file (120 kb)

Description: The Space Tissue Loss-A (STL-A) Module, a completely automated cell culture facility, was used to study the effects of microgravity at the cellular and embryonic levels. It was flown on National Institutes of Health payloads on several Shuttle missions. (Excerpt from Life into Space 1991-1998) (Posted on 01/01)

Links

Follow these links to explore related sites in a new window.

Antibiotics in Orbit
This article provides an example of a microbiology experiment performed in space, to measure antibiotic production and growth rate of bacteria in microgravity.