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Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Design eines Desinfektionsprozesses für die Luftschleuse einer experimentellen Marsbasis. Dabei wird der Fokus auf Ozon als Desinfektionsmittel gelegt und ein möglicher Prozessablauf simuliert. Dieser wird im Anschluss in Anbetracht der Anforderungen der Planetary Protection bewertet. Zusätzlich wird ein Überblick über die benötigte Sensorik gegeben, sowie weiterführende Forschungsfragen aufgezeigt.

EURO-CARES (European Curation of Astromaterials Returned from the Exploration of Space) was a three-year multinational project (2015-2017) funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research programme. The objective of EURO-CARES was to create a roadmap for the implementation of a European Extra-terrestrial Sample Curation Facility (ESCF). This facility was intended to be suitable for the curation of samples from return missions from the Moon, asteroids, Mars, and other bodies of the Solar System. The EURO-CARES project covered five technical areas, led by scientists and engineers from institutions across Europe. 1. Planetary Protection: Planetary protection requirements and implementation approaches were assessed by experts and guided by international policy. Existing sterilization methods and techniques were reviewed. It was found that measures already employed for high containment biosafety facilities are suitable for a restricted sample return mission. However, the development of certain technologies, such as a 'double walled' isolator, remote manipulation, integration of scientific analytical instruments, etc. is also required. 2. Facilities and Infrastructure: Aspects from building design to storage of the samples were examined in the project. Requirements for the facility included that it contained a receiving laboratory, a cleaning and opening laboratory, a bio-assessment laboratory, a curation laboratory, and sample storage. Different design solutions were prepared in collaboration with architects. 3. Instruments and Methods: The methodology of characterisation of returned samples and the instrument base required at the ESCF were determined. The analyses provide an appropriate level of characterisation while ensuring minimal contamination and minimal alteration of the sample. When the samples are returned to Earth, several stages of studies would be conducted. 4. Analogue Samples: Analogue proxy samples were considered critical for testing sample handling, preparation techniques, storage conditions, planetary protection measures, as well as to validate new analytical methods. A list of useful analogue samples has been assembled. 5. Sample Transport: The Earth re-entry capsule from a sample return mission is targeted at a specific landing ellipse on Earth and must then be transported safely to the ESCF in an appropriate transport container. Lessons learned from past sample return missions show that preparations for recovery included: training of the recovery team for every possible scenario, possible temporary facilities nearby the landing site, environmental measurements and collection of samples at the landing site, added to this if necessary, would be planetary protection measures. In conclusion, long-term curation of extra-terrestrial samples requires that the samples are kept clean to minimize the risk of Earth contaminants, at the same time as contained, in case of a restricted sample return. This work describes a roadmap for a combined high containment and ultraclean European sample curation facility and the development of the necessary novel scientific and engineering methods and techniques., SCOPUS: cp.p, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The European space sciences landscape is very diverse as it involves two major intergovernmental organisations (The European Space Agency-ESA- and the European Commission-EC) and more than 25 countries that each have their national institutional setting and scientific planning approach. It has therefore always been essential to coordinate space science and exploration programmes throughout Europe and with international partners. The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC - www.essc.esf.org) is offering European scientists an independent voice providing advice and guidance on space science matters to ESA, EC, national space agencies, and other stakeholders. The ESSC is not a programmatic nor a political entity; it promotes space science not as a cost but as a high-return investment with a broad and exciting leverage effect on the people and the economy. Similarly to other international advisory bodies, ESSC offers recommendations and implements other space exploration related activities; it delivers direct consolidated (solicited or proactive) input from the scientific community to programmatic institutions; but is can also represent an anchor for non-European scientific communities to interact and collaborate. The ESSC has thus kept and developed very strong links with the Space Studies Board of the US National Academies (NAS-SSB), members from both sides of the Atlantic thus affording regular insight on European and US space programmes. These two bodies are also linked in some strategic planning issues and in studies related to Planetary Protection (e.g. on PhobosDeimos categorisation), Mars (Mars Special Regions), space weather or the icy moons of the giant planets. The ESSC has also tight contacts with Chinese, Russian and Japanese space agencies and research organisations. This international bottom-up approach in space roadmapping has proven to be highly valuable in the past, a relevant example being the Cassini-Huygens mission. In the early eighties, the concept of a joint U.S.-European mission to explore the Saturnian system was delineated duringa joint European Science Foundation-US National Academies workshop, this was the spark of one of the most successful long-lived (2004-2017) planetary exploration missions to date. A coordinated integrated position on programmatic space matters is key to maximise scientific return. Since the late nineties, the ESSC and its office have conducted studies and evaluations on the ESA Life and Physical Sciences in Space programme (ELIPS) as well as defining a Science-Driven Scenario for Space Exploration or roadmaps in the fields of human space exploration or astrobiology. ESSC has also been very active in providing inputs to the European Commission on the definition of its space strategy and space research work programme. The ESSC contacts with international bodies significantly contribute to the definition and implementation of exploration programmes in their respective countries and demonstrate that common initiatives allow us to promote the inputs from the scientific communities. A network of independent non-programmatic interdisciplinary bodies covering all the regions of the world would certainly improve coordination of space exploration at the global level. References: all of the documents related to the aforementioned studies can be found at: http://www.essc.esf.org/list-of-publications/

After a historical survey of space related EUV measurements in Germany and the role of Karl Rawer in pursuing this work, we describe present developments in EUV spectroscopy and provide a brief outlook on future activities. The group of Karl Rawer has performed the first scientific space project in Western Europe on 19th October 1954. Then it was decided to include the field of solar EUV spectroscopy in ionospheric investigations. Starting in 1957 an intensified development of instrumentation was going on to explore solar EUV radiation, atmospheric airglow and auroral emissions until the institute had to stop space activities in the early nineteen-eighties. EUV spectroscopy was continued outside of the institute during eight years. This area of work was supported again by the institute developing the Auto-Calibrating Spectrometers (SolACES) for a mission on the International Space Station (ISS). After more than six years in space the instrument is still in operation. Meanwhile the work on the primary task also to validate EUV data available from other space missions has made good progress. The first results of validating those data and combine them into one set of EUV solar spectral irradiance are very promising. It will be recommended for using it by the science and application community. Moreover, a new low-cost type of an EUV spectrometer is presented for monitoring the solar EUV radiation. It shall be further developed for providing EUV-TEC data to be applied in ionospheric models replacing the Covington index F10.7. Applying these data for example in the GNSS signal evaluation a more accurate determination of GNSS receiver positions is expected for correcting the propagation delays of navigation signals traveling through the ionosphere from space to earth. – Latest results in the field of solar EUV spectroscopy are discussed, too.

Radiation has emerged as the most critical issue to be resolved for long-term missions both orbital and interplanetary. Astronauts are constantly exposed to galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) of various energies with a low dose rate. Primarily late tissue sequels like genetic alterations, cancer and non-cancer effects, i.e. cataracts and degenerative diseases of e.g. the central nervous system or the cardiovascular system, are the potential risks. Cataracts were observed to occur earlier and more often in astronauts exposed to higher proportions of galactic ions (Cucinotta et al., 2001). Predictions of cancer risk and acceptable radiation exposure in space are subject to many uncertainties including the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of space radiation especially heavy ions, dose-rate effects and possible interaction with microgravity and other spaceflight environmental factors. The initial cellular response to radiation exposure paves the way to late sequelae and starts with damage to the DNA which complexity depends on the linear energy transfer (LET) of the radiation. Repair of such complex DNA damage is more challenging and requires more time than the repair of simple DNA double strand breaks (DSB) which can be visualized by immunofluorescence staining of the phosphorylated histone 2AX (H2AX) and might explain the observed prolonged cell cycle arrests induced by high-LET in comparison to low-LET irradiation. Unrepaired or mis-repaired DNA DSB are proposed to be responsible for cell death, mutations, chromosomal aberrations and oncogenic cell transformation. Cell killing and mutation induction are most efficient in an LET range of 90-200 keV/µm. Also the activation of transcription factors such as Nuclear Factor B (NF-B) and gene expression shaping the cellular radiation response depend on the LET with a peak RBE between 90 and 300 keV/µm. Such LET-RBE relationships were observed for cataract and cancer induction by heavy ions in laboratory animals, with varying maximal efficiencies. Furthermore, there is always the added risk of acute exposure to high proton fluxes during a solar particle event (SPE), which can threaten immediate survival of the astronauts in case of insufficient shielding by eliciting the acute radiation syndrome. Its symptoms depend on absorbed total radiation dose, type of radiation, the dose distribution in the body and the individual radiation sensitivity. After the prodromal stage with nausea and vomiting and a subsequent symptom-free phase, depending on dose, the hematopoietic syndrome with suppression of the acquired immune system and thrombocytopenia (0.7-4 Sv), the gastrointestinal tract syndrome (5-12 Sv) or the central nervous system syndrome (> 20 Sv) develop and they are accompanied by exacerbated innate immune responses. Exposure to large SPE has to be avoided by warning systems and stay inside a radiation shelter during the event. Treatment options encompass e.g. the administration of colony-stimulating factors (CSF), growth factors and blood transfusions to overcome the hematopoietic syndrome and the administration of antibiotics against secondary infections. A concerted action of ground-based studies and space experiments is required to improve the radiobiological basis of space radiation risk assessment and countermeasure development.

The quest of exploring and looking for life in new places is a human desire since centuries. Nowa- days, we are not only looking on planet Earth any more, but our endeavours focus on nearby planets in our solar system. It is therefore of great importance to preserve the extra-terrestrial environment and not to contaminate it with terrestrial / human associated bacteria. At this point in time we are not able to send crewed missions to other planets; however, analysing the impact of human exploration on environments is of great planetary protection concern. This can be achieved by obtaining samples from a subterranean environment, where only ex- pert speleologists have access and the human impact is considered very low. For this study, astronauts participating in the 2014 ESA CAVES (Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills) training course, obtained samples from deep within a subterranean environment and returned them to the laboratory for molecular microbial analysis. The diversity of the returned soil samples was analysed by molecular means such as clone library and next-generation sequencing (NGS). It was found that humans have an immense impact on the microbial diversity in the environment. Although the cave system is sparsely entered by humans, a high relative abundance of Staphylococcus spp. and Propionibac- teria spp., organisms that are characteristic for human skin, have been recovered. Some samples even showed the presence of human gut associated methanogenic archaea, Methanomassiliicoc- cus spp. The obtained data from this investigation indicate that human exploration is strongly polluting an environment and may lead to false-positive sign of life on other planets. It is therefore imperative to increase our awareness to this problem as well as work towards new protocols to protect a pristine extraterrestrial environment during exploration.

A broad variety of countermeasures on the effects of weightlessness on human physiology have been developed and applied in the course of space exploration. Devices like treadmills, stretch ropes etc. have several disadvantages in common: they require a significant amount of crew time and they may not efficiently counteract the degradation of physiological structures and cellular functions. Some methods even include potentially painful or uncomfortable procedures for the astronauts. Thus, the application of Artificial Gravity (AG) generated by short radius centrifuges (they fit into space vessels) has been discussed and proposed by a number of scientists and space agencies as an alternative countermeasure during long-term space missions. Although there is a profound knowledge concerning, e.g., the cardiovascular system and immune responses acquired on long radius centrifuges, there is a remarkable lack of knowledge concerning the same issues on devices operating with short radius. In strict contrast to long radius centrifuges, there is a significant gravity gradient in the head-to-toe axis which comes along with the short radius and higher relative rotation velocity. Thus it is of utmost importance to continue investigating the effects of AG, especially by use of short radius centrifuges. The Short Arm Human Centrifuge (SAHC) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany, is the most advanced type of short radius centrifuges presently commercially available. Experience gained so far using the SAHC at DLR revealed that future projects on centrifuge devices with short radius should aim at a clear identification of the threshold level of the g-load, which is necessary to efficiently counteract the degradation of physical structures and an efficient support of cellular functions. A satisfying result would be combined countermeasure methods applied at a threshold concerning g-load and exposition time in the course of long-term sojourn in microgravity. Another future control or monitoring method to exactly dose AG training is heart rate variability, which offers an insight into neurovegetative and cardiovascular regulation. Centrifuges like the SAHC are also useful platforms to accommodate small biological experiments, e.g., experiments addressing the response of cultured cells to hypergravity. Here, we briefly review the issue of short radius centrifuges and also address our experience hitherto gained during a number of scientific projects carried out at the SAHC at DLR.

This paper introduces a wireless experiment for sensing and positioning to be deployed in the Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS). The experiment allows the monitoring of environmental parameters and it demonstrates the motion tracking of astronauts or free-flying objects by utilizing impulse radio - ultra wideband (IR-UWB) in combination with Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors. Recent work revealed a great potential in utilizing WSN in space habitats; however, the focus was only based on sensing in the narrowband Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) 2.45 GHz band, whereas this work extends these capabilities by utilizing IR-UWB for positioning and it optionally uses internal light sources for energy harvesting to drive the sensor nodes. The paper describes the operational scenario and the hardware and software concept are presented in detail. Finally the expected results are presented, which focus on the analysis of different use cases for the implementation of wireless sensor networks and to help and to identify new applications for future space missions.