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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2010

Rapid Turn Around BRIC-PDFU Payload: A New Paradigm for Spaceflight Experiments

In 2009, NASA's Fundamental Space Biology program provided an opportunity for investigators to propose for a quick-turn-around multi-user spaceflight experiment that focused on the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. This was a passive payload with no on-orbit power or communications available. An NRA was rapidly written (8/09), released (NNH09ZTT004N; 9/09), proposals were received (11/09) and peer reviewed with 3 PI groups selected for flight (1/10): (1) A-L Paul, University of Florida, (2) E. Blancaflor, Noble Foundation, (3) J. Kiss, Miami University. The investigators flew Arabidopsis seeds or callus cultures of their choosing (plated onto 60 mm diameter Petri dishes containing agarsolidified media) on the STS-131 Space Shuttle mission (launched 4/5/10) and the resulting plant tissues returned to earth on 4/20/10. Each petri dish was placed inside its own Petri Dish Fixation Unit (PDFU), which was assembled and loaded with either formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde or RNAlater for crew-facilitated on-orbit fixation. Five PDFUs plus a temperature data logger were loaded into each of 8 BRIC-PDFUs (Biological Research In Canisters PDFU). All eight BRIC-PDFUs were loaded into a half tray along with actuator equipment that the crew used for the fixations. Pre-flight turn-over was 28 hours prior to launch. The BRIC-PDFU assemblies were removed from the orbiter and handed over to the investigator teams for processing 5-6 hours after landing. This payload demonstrated a rapid response turnaround for flying multiple peer-reviewed science investigations using previously flown hardware and minimal ISS-resources. The approach used reduced both hardware/certification and PI costs. The time waiting for a flight opportunity for the selected Pls was minimal. This new paradigm for spaceflight experiments may provide a model for future flight research opportunities. The ultimate goal is to fly as many investigators as rapidly as possible and reinvigorate the space biology community while obtaining high-quality, peer-reviewed science.

Levine, Howard G.↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Wettzell System Monitoring Concept and First Realizations

Automated monitoring of operational system parameters for the geodetic space techniques is becoming more important in order to improve the geodetic data and to ensure the safety and stability of automatic and remote-controlled observations. Therefore, the Wettzell group has developed the system monitoring software, SysMon, which is based on a reliable, remotely-controllable hardware/software realization. A multi-layered data logging system based on a fanless, robust industrial PC with an internal database system is used to collect data from several external, serial, bus, or PCI-based sensors. The internal communication is realized with Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) and uses generative programming with the interface software generator idl2rpc.pl developed at Wettzell. Each data monitoring stream can be configured individually via configuration files to define the logging rates or analog-digital-conversion parameters. First realizations are currently installed at the new laser ranging system at Wettzell to address safety issues and at the VLBI station O Higgins as a meteorological data logger. The system monitoring concept should be realized for the Wettzell radio telescope in the near future.

Ettl, Martin↗
NASA NTRS2011

Atomic Oxygen Fluence Monitor

This innovation enables a means for actively measuring atomic oxygen fluence (accumulated atoms of atomic oxygen per area) that has impinged upon spacecraft surfaces. Telemetered data from the device provides spacecraft designers, researchers, and mission managers with real-time measurement of atomic oxygen fluence, which is useful for prediction of the durability of spacecraft materials and components. The innovation is a compact fluence measuring device that allows in-space measurement and transmittance of measured atomic oxygen fluence as a function of time based on atomic oxygen erosion yields (the erosion yield of a material is the volume of material that is oxidized per incident oxygen atom) of materials that have been measured in low Earth orbit. It has a linear electrical response to atomic oxygen fluence, and is capable of measuring high atomic oxygen fluences (up to >10(exp 22) atoms/sq cm), which are representative of multi-year low-Earth orbital missions (such as the International Space Station). The durability or remaining structural lifetime of solar arrays that consist of polymer blankets on which the solar cells are attached can be predicted if one knows the atomic oxygen fluence that the solar array blanket has been exposed to. In addition, numerous organizations that launch space experiments into low-Earth orbit want to know the accumulated atomic oxygen fluence that their materials or components have been exposed to. The device is based on the erosion yield of pyrolytic graphite. It uses two 12deg inclined wedges of graphite that are over a grit-blasted fused silica window covering a photodiode. As the wedges erode, a greater area of solar illumination reaches the photodiode. A reference photodiode is also used that receives unobstructed solar illumination and is oriented in the same direction as the pyrolytic graphite covered photodiode. The short-circuit current from the photodiodes is measured and either sent to an onboard data logger, or transmitted to a receiving station on Earth. By comparison of the short-circuit currents from the fluence-measuring photodiode and the reference photodiode, one can compute the accumulated atomic oxygen fluence arriving in the direction that the fluence monitor is pointing. The device produces a signal that is linear with atomic oxygen fluence using a material whose atomic oxygen erosion yield has been measured over a period of several years in low-Earth orbit.

Banks, Bruce A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

BRIC-100VC Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC)-100VC

The Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) is an anodized-aluminum cylinder used to provide passive stowage for investigations of the effects of space flight on small specimens. The BRIC 100 mm petri dish vacuum containment unit (BRIC-100VC) has supported Dugesia japonica (flatworm) within spring under normal atmospheric conditions for 29 days in space and Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus L. (daylily) somatic embryo development within a 5% CO2 gaseous environment for 4.5 months in space. BRIC-100VC is a completely sealed, anodized-aluminum cylinder (Fig. 1) providing containment and structural support of the experimental specimens. The top and bottom lids of the canister include rapid disconnect valves for filling the canister with selected gases. These specialized valves allow for specific atmospheric containment within the canister, providing a gaseous environment defined by the investigator. Additionally, the top lid has been designed with a toggle latch and O-ring assembly allowing for prompt sealing and removal of the lid. The outside dimensions of the BRIC-100VC canisters are 16.0 cm (height) x 11.4 cm (outside diameter). The lower portion of the canister has been equipped with sufficient storage space for passive temperature and relative humidity data loggers. The BRIC- 100VC canister has been optimized to accommodate standard 100 mm laboratory petri dishes or 50 mL conical tubes. Depending on storage orientation, up to 6 or 9 canisters have been flown within an International Space Station (ISS) stowage locker.

Biological↗
NASA NTRS2018

Mars Ecopoiesis Testbed

Mars surface conditions where liquid water is absent were simulated for the purposes of laboratory research. A pressure-temperature (P-T) profile was maintained in which no combination of pressure or temperature corresponds to the liquid region of the water phase diagram. The triple point of pure water occurs at T = 0.1oC and P(H2O) = 6.01 mbar; therefore all temperatures and pressures must be kept below these values, respectively. A 35-day test was performed in a commercial planetary simulation system (Techshot, Inc., Greenville, IN) in which the minimum night-time temperature was -80oC, the maximum daytime temperature was +26oC, the simulated day-night light cycle in earth hours was 12-on and 12-off, and the total pressure of the pure CO2 atmosphere was maintained below 11 mbar. Any water present was allowed to equilibrate with the changing temperature and pressure. The gas phase was sampled into a CR1-A condensation-mirror low-pressure hygrometer, which uses liquid nitrogen (down to 77oK) to determine the dew point (Buck Technologies, Boulder, CO). Dew point was measured once every hour and recorded on a data logger, along with the varying temperature in the chamber, from which the partial pressure of water was calculated. The resulting calculated daily cycles were tracked on the water P-T diagram, and no points were found to fall within the liquid-phase region of the diagram. It is concluded that there was no liquid water present throughout the test except during the initial pump-down period when aqueous specimens were introduced on the first day (less than 1 hour). Mars regolith simulant was present during this test, and further investigation is needed to determine whether liquid water could have been present or absent in the regolith in the form of brine. Biological samples consisting of Cyanobacteria: Anabena sp., Chroococcidiopsis CCMEE171, Plectonema boryanum; Eubacteria: Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Eukaryota: Chlorella ellipsoidia were maintained in the simulator under the above-described conditions. The exposed specimens were tested for intracellular esterase activity, chlorophyll content (where appropriate) and reproductive survival. All tests yielded low-level positive results in all cases. In parallel to these terrestrial studies a planned design study was undertaken for the proposed test bed. Design requirements include compact assembly for transport and installation on the planetary surface (multiple units per mission would be expected), protective internal package for the release of organisms, a means of atmosphere exchange, access to sunlight, a means of penetrating the planetary surface, and most importantly a means of acquiring regolith while meeting the requirements of planetary protection. In consultation with advisers a design was created, and a large-scale mock-up of this design was fabricated by additive manufacturing at Techshot, Inc. with moving parts that simulated the components of the design. The mock-up assembly has been demonstrated to interested parties. A means of detecting live metabolism will also be included in the test bed. Several options were reviewed, and it is concluded that, by the time the ecopoiesis test bed is ready for testing the optimum instrument will be the equivalent of a hand-held mass spectrometer for metabolic gas analysis. This will maximize versatility and reveal much more information than could a detector of a single product (such as molecular oxygen), and the

Ecopoiesis↗
NASA NTRS2020

Field Evaluation of Portable Soil Water Content Sensors in a Sandy Loam

Ground observations are critical in the validation of soil water content (SWC) estimates from both satellites and land surface models. Portable SWC sensors provide useful information to determine the amount of SWC in the topsoil layer for various applications; however, these probes are not accurate without site‐specific correction. In the present study, we examined and compared six different types of portable electromagnetic (EM) SWC sensors, including multiple sensors made by the same manufacturers, for a total of 16 EM‐based SWC probes equipped with portable data loggers. All SWC probes met the target accuracy after onsite correction—the RMSD was <0.025 m(exp 3) m(exp -3). Using the two‐sample t-tests, we observed that SWC data obtained from similar electrode lengths and from different manufacturers showed similar distributions over time with the same mean. Furthermore, using the maximize R method to combine SWC data from two different types of sensors increased the accuracy of the results. When datasets from two different types of sensors were combined, the Pearson's correlation coefficient (R value) and RMSD values were improved. The average R value improved from .930 to .945, and the RMSD decreased from 0.036 m(exp 3) m(exp -3) to 0.018 m(exp 3) m(exp −3). These results indicate that, along with site‐specific correction, synergetic use of multiple manufacturers’ EM‐based SWC probes can improve the R value and reduce systematic bias.

soil moisture data↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

RadBREAD: Radiation Biology Research at an Elevated Altitude through Dosimetry – A student-designed payload

NASA uses extreme environment platforms (ground testing facilities, high-altitude balloons and aircraft, and CubeSats) to provide greater understanding of the conditions and limitations of extra-terrestrial environments. As part of a two-week flight planned for summer 2021, RadBREAD (Radiation Biology Research at an Elevated Altitude through Dosimetry) will fly as a secondary payload consisting of a M-42C (German Aerospace Center, DLR) ionizing radiation dosimeter, UV micro-logger, and multiple desiccated yeast samples. The platform is a novel high-altitude solar-powered aircraft: the Swift Engineering High-Altitude samples. The platform is a novel high-altitude solar-powered aircraft: the Swift Engineering High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft System (HALE UAS), which offers significantly longer flight durations than other high-altitude platforms. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae will provide meaningful biological correlation for the sensor readings, due to its resistance to extremely low temperature and pressure when desiccated, ease of genetic manipulation, and homology to human genes. The RadBREAD team comprises the 2020 cohort of NASA’s Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) research associates as well as NASA scientists, engineers and radiation experts from NASA and the DLR. Yeast survival, metabolic, and transcriptomic changes will be correlated with environmental data collected during long-term exposure to the upper atmosphere. Additionally, the team will evaluate the upper atmospheric environment (radiation, pressure, and temperature) provided by the HALE UAS platform as a Mars surface analog for biological payloads. We hypothesize that exposure to upper atmospheric conditions during the HALE UAS flight will alter the survival, metabolism, and transcriptome of desiccated wild-type S. cerevisiae upon rehydration compared to sensitive and tolerant yeast strains exposed to the same conditions, and between the flight samples compared to asynchronous ground controls.

radiation exposure↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Exposure of Plant Seeds to the Space Environment outside the International Space Station

If crop seeds are to be stored on space vehicles for long-duration missions, the effects of the space environment on the seeds must be understood for developing mitigation strategies to prevent seed degradation. The MISSE-Seed project was designed to investigate the effects of space exposure on seed quality and storage. The project also tested the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) platform for exposing biological samples to the space environment and evaluated the capability of a newly designed passive sample containment vessel for the provision of acceptable storage conditions for seeds, or other biological samples, to be preserved upon exposure to the space environment outside the ISS. The experiment was launched to the ISS on NG-15and returned to Earth aboard SpX-24. The specimens consisted of eleven seed varieties (Lettuce, Scarlet Frills, Amara, Garnet Giant, Pac Choi, Radish, Mizuna, Tomato, Cauliflower, Pepper, and Arabidopsis). The exposure lasted eight months outside the ISS in the MISSE hardware at the Zenith position. Data-loggers and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were included in each container to record the environmental data. Temperature profiles and radiation/UV exposure data were also provided by Aegis Aerospace, the MISSE Implementation Partner. In this presentation, the hardware and experimental design, the environmental profiles, and the results of post-flight germination tests will be presented.

Jeffrey T Richards↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Exposure of Plant Seeds to the Space Environment Outside the International Space Station

If crop seeds are to be stored on space vehicles for long-duration missions, the effects of the space environment on the seeds must be understood for developing mitigation strategies to prevent seed degradation. The MISSE-Seed project was designed to investigate the effects of space exposure on seed quality and storage. The project also tested the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) platform for exposing biological samples to the space environment and evaluated the capability of a newly designed passive sample containment vessel for the provision of acceptable storage conditions for seeds, or other biological samples, to be preserved upon exposure to the space environment outside the ISS. The experiment was launched to the ISS on NG-15and returned to Earth aboard SpX-24. The specimens consisted of eleven seed varieties (Lettuce, Scarlet Frills, Amara, Garnet Giant, Pac Choi, Radish, Mizuna, Tomato, Cauliflower, Pepper, and Arabidopsis). The exposure lasted eight months outside the ISS in the MISSE hardware at the Zenith position. Data-loggers and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were included in each container to record the environmental data. Temperature profiles and radiation/UV exposure data were also provided by Aegis Aerospace, the MISSE Implementation Partner. In this presentation, the hardware and experimental design, the environmental profiles, and the results of post-flight germination tests will be presented.

Jeffrey T Richards↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Exposure of Plant Seeds to the Space Environment Outside the International Space Station

Crop seeds may prove to be a vital component of future long-term spaceflight missions, and the impacts of extended exposure on seed degradation is not well understood. The MISSE-Seed project was designed to investigate the effects of space exposure on seed quality and storage. The project also served as a test of biological materials aboard the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) platform, and evaluated the capability of a newly designed passive sample containment vessel for the provision of acceptable storage conditions for seed and other biological samples to be preserved upon exposure to the space environment outside the ISS. MISSE-Seed was launched to the ISS on NG-15 in July of 2021 and returned to Earth aboard SpX-24 after approximately 8 months of exposure to the space environment. The specimens consisted of eleven seed varieties (Lettuce, Scarlet Frills, Amara, Garnet Giant, Pac Choi, Radish, Mizuna, Tomato, Cauliflower, Pepper, and Arabidopsis). Data-loggers and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were included in each container to record environmental data. Temperature profiles and radiation/UV exposure data were also provided by Aegis Aerospace, the MISSE Implementation Partner. Hardware and experimental design, environmental profiles, and post-flight germination and growth results will be presented.

Alexander D Meyers↗
NASA NTRS2023

Assessing High Resolution Thermal Monitoring of Complex Intertidal Environments From Space: the Case of ECOSTRESS at Rias Baixas, NW Iberia

Currently, thermal sensors on satellites and other orbital platforms with high spatial resolution designed to monitor the oceans are often insufficient to assess the surface temperature of small bodies of water or within the coastal boundary layer. As the accuracy and sensitivity of remote sensing satellites improve, the demand for more accurate and up-to-date basic data sets for calibration increases. The quality of the thermal data collected by ECOSTRESS on the International Space Station allows the characterization of thermal stress levels in coastal ecosystems with a high spatial resolution of 70 m and a return time from hours to 5 days. This study focused on the calibration of ECOSTRESS estimates with in situ surface temperature data from sensors installed at 3 cm depth in the sediment on the intertidal muddy sandflats of three of the Rías Baixas in Galicia, NW Iberian Peninsula, from 2019 to 2021. A final number of 45 ECOSTRESS temperature images were analyzed. From these, 20% contained substantial georeferencing errors which had to be corrected manually with GIS software tools. We applied the Fourier's law of Heat Conduction to derive surface estimates from loggers sub-surface measurements that could be directly compared with ECOSTRESS data. Overall, a good calibration which explained more than 80% of ECOSTRESS temperature estimates for the whole dataset was obtained, but with an intrinsic cold bias around 1.39 °C. When temperatures at a depth of 3 cm were used, the linear fit became worse and the negative bias increased to 1.49 °C. Closer inspection revealed that night measurements were responsible for this larger deviation, as ECOSTRESS estimates became much colder compared to within sediment measurements because of the combined effect of the instrument intrinsic bias and nocturnal surface cooling. The best calibration was obtained when surface estimates were calculated just for the nighttime, as the cold bias decreased to 0.93 °C. More importantly, during hot daytime conditions in emersion above 20 °C, ECOSTRESS data matched surface temperature estimates, probably because of a better performance of ECOSTRESS algorithm at dry surfaces with lower emissivity. Thus, during the most ecologically relevant periods when high temperatures could drive thermal stress in many commercially-important bivalve species, ECOSTRESS provides accurate surface estimates that can be used to derive sub surface temperatures at the depths at which the different burrowing organisms live. We thus conclude that this instrument constitutes an important global tool to examine thermal stress at an unprecedented spatial scale for complex sea-land boundary systems.

ECOSTRESS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Investigation of Lunar-Inspired Geopolymer Concrete Formulations Mixed and Cured in Microgravity on the International Space Station (ISS)

The research outlined in this presentation investigates the use of various lunar regolith simulants in geopolymer lunar concrete mixes mixed and cured on the International Space Station (ISS). The motivation for this work is to study the effects of gravity on the microstructure of alkali-activated materials cured with heat, and to develop materials for the construction of long-term infrastructure on the lunar surface with in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). ISRU for construction materials reduces the cost and mass of payloads related to lunar construction. The advantage of geopolymer concrete as opposed to traditional portland cement concrete is that water acts as a medium for the polymerization reaction and leaves the system throughout the process, reducing its demand. Twelve samples of lunar regolith simulant and a solution composed of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate were sent to the ISS. The three simulants were OPRH2N, OPRL2N, and JSC-1AF, using only particles less than 53 µm in diameter to increase reactivity of the simulant. Simulant to solution ratios were determined by workability while mixing. The simulant and solution were sealed Burst Pouches® along with 2 other sealed bags to prevent material from leaking. Crew member F-14 conducted testing on the ISS by introducing the solution to the simulant in the Burst Pouch®, mixing the sample with a spatula, and then clamping the specimen in the fresh state to prevent flow inside the Burst Pouch®. These specimens were then put in a thermos heated to 80C via sealed drinking water bags to cure for 24 hours with a temperature logger. The cured specimens remained in microgravity for at least 28 days and were returned from the ISS in February 2025. The specimens were then brought to the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to analyze. Material characterization consisted of conducting Micro-CT tests of entire samples in their sealed apparatus to a resolution of 25µm. 2D image slices were saved in each orthogonal direction of each specimen at a 0.03 mm step size from the 3D model to conduct analytical porosity calculations. Representative samples from each specimen were sampled to perform helium gas pycnometery and were then mounted in resin for SEM imaging, EDS, and nanoindentation. Porosity was analyzed analytically using micromechanics modelling with the assistance of the NASA Multiscale Analysis Tool (NASMAT), as well as the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) servers (V. Saseendran & N. Yamamoto, 2024). Density was measured using helium gas pycnometery and was then compared to the theoretical density for experimental porosity calculation. Due to the samples’ non-uniform shape being cured in a pouch, traditional compression and tensile strength testing could not be performed. Nanoindentation was conducted at Clarkson University to determine the microhardness and reduced modulus of elasticity. Results from flight samples can be compared to ground samples currently in DLR’s possession to determine the effect on microstructure from being mixed and cured in microgravity. This study gives further insight and understanding of geopolymer lunar concrete and its viability as a lunar construction material with ISRU.

Adam Johnson↗
NASA NTRS2021

Coral Oxygen Isotopic Records Capture the 2015/2016 El Niño Event in the Central Equatorial Pacific

Coral oxygen isotopes (δ^(18)O) from the central equatorial Pacific provide monthly resolved records of El Niño-Southern Oscillation activity over past centuries to millennia. However, calibration studies using in situ data to assess the relative contributions of warming and freshening to coral δ^(18)O records are exceedingly rare. Furthermore, the fidelity of coral δ^(18)O records under the most severe thermal stress events is difficult to assess. Here, we present six coral δ^(18)O records and in situ temperature, salinity, and seawater δ^(18)O data from Kiritimati Island (2°N, 157°W) spanning the very strong 2015/16 El Niño event. Local sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies of +2.4 ± 0.4°C and seawater δ^(18)O anomalies of −0.19 ± 0.02‰ contribute to the observed coral δ^(18)O anomalies of −0.58 ± 0.05‰, consistent with a ∼70% contribution from SST and ∼30% from seawater δ^(18)O. Our results demonstrate that Kiritimati coral δ^(18)O records can provide reliable reconstructions even during the largest class of El Niño events.

Oxygen isotope anomalies↗