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Antimicrobial surfaces are a highly promising approach in preventing/ reducing microbial loads in sensitive areas. There, high humidity and temperature levels are causing microbial contamination - endangering human health, health of organisms e.g. in bioregenerative life-support systems as well as technical equipment. Antimicrobial surfaces are beneficial • in spaceflight - w.r.t. activities in confined environments in LEO and during exploration activities - to support breeding activities of e.g. algae in bioreactors, biological experiments and to meet the COSPAR planetary protection policy • as well as on Earth - in hygiene areas during medical activities and food handling, in swimming baths, bathrooms etc.. For confined environments in space as well as on Earth, antimicrobial surfaces must be free of any toxic substance, otherwise higher non-target organisms would be affected. Thus, synthetic chemicals, silver, copper etc., as used until now, are not a suited solution, which in addition might lead to resistances of the bacteria to these toxic substances and are acting rather unspecific. Bioinspired technologies as using antimicrobial peptides from nature (e.g. from frog skin etc.), immobilised on surfaces, are a suited alternative. High flexibility concerning the microbial target, low toxicity and an absence of resistances are the main advantages. As a consequence, the goal of the ESA-funded project BALS (Bio-inspired antimicrobial lacquer for space) was the development of a new innovative antimicrobial acting lacquer based on peptides. Project partners were OHB System, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM) (both Bremen, Germany) as well as the German Aerospace Center, Institute of Aerospace Medicine (Cologne, Germany). An overview about goals, technology and test results (w.r.t. antimicrobial activity, adhesion on substrates as well as absence of effects on higher organisms) of the BALS activity will be given at the symposium. Furthermore, an outlook about the next development and qualification steps until routine application in space and on Earth will be part of the presentation.

AstRoMap was supported by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) from 2012 to 2015. The main outcome of the AstRoMap project is its roadmap for European astrobiology, astrobiology being understood as the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the context of cosmic evolution; this includes habitability in the Solar System and beyond. The AstRoMap roadmap, published in March 2016, results from expert workshops as well as wide consultation of the community. It puts forward five core research topics that represent interrelated roadmap building blocks. Each research topic is broken down into several key objectives (and subobjectives) that put forward more detailed priority areas to be addressed in the future. - Research Topic 1: Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems - Research Topic 2: Origins of Organic Compounds in Space - Research Topic 3: Rock-Water-Carbon Interactions, Organic Synthesis on Earth, and Steps to Life - Research Topic 4: Life and Habitability - Research Topic 5: Biosignatures as Facilitating Life Detection The AstRoMap partner organisations were the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial { Centro de Astrobiologíca (INTA-CAB, Spain), the European Science Foundation (ESF, France), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, Germany), the Belgian User Support and Operations Centre (B-USOC, Belgium), the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF, Italy) and the European Astrobiology Network Association (EANA, Europe).

Background The Mars500 project was conceived as the first full duration simulation of a crewed return flight to Mars. For 520 days, six crew members lived confined in a specifically designed spacecraft mock-up. The herein described “MIcrobial ecology of Confined Habitats and humAn health” (MICHA) experiment was implemented to acquire comprehensive microbiota data from this unique, confined manned habitat, to retrieve important information on the occurring microbiota dynamics, the microbial load and diversity in the air and on various surfaces. In total, 360 samples from 20 (9 air, 11 surface) locations were taken at 18 time-points and processed by extensive cultivation, PhyloChip and next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Results Cultivation assays revealed a Staphylococcus and Bacillus-dominated microbial community on various surfaces, with an average microbial load that did not exceed the allowed limits for ISS in-flight requirements indicating adequate maintenance of the facility. Areas with high human activity were identified as hotspots for microbial accumulation. Despite substantial fluctuation with respect to microbial diversity and abundance throughout the experiment, the location within the facility and the confinement duration were identified as factors significantly shaping the microbial diversity and composition, with the crew representing the main source for microbial dispersal. Opportunistic pathogens, stress-tolerant or potentially mobile element-bearing microorganisms were predicted to be prevalent throughout the confinement, while the overall microbial diversity dropped significantly over time. Conclusions Our findings clearly indicate that under confined conditions, the community structure remains a highly dynamic system which adapts to the prevailing habitat and micro-conditions. Since a sterile environment is not achievable, these dynamics need to be monitored to avoid spreading of highly resistant or potentially pathogenic microorganisms and a potentially harmful decrease of microbial diversity. If necessary, countermeasures are required, to maintain a healthy, diverse balance of beneficial, neutral and opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. Our results serve as an important data collection for (i) future risk estimations of crewed space flight, (ii) an optimized design and planning of a spacecraft mission and (iii) for the selection of appropriate microbial monitoring approaches and potential countermeasures, to ensure a microbiologically safe space-flight environment. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40168-017-0345-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) technology is very fast and effective in inactivation of various kinds of microorganisms, like bacteria and endospores. In the field of astronautics, the COSPAR planetary protection policy defines the decontamination requirements of spacecraft components for different space missions [1]. In a first study of using CAP for the decontamination of space equipment we showed its potential as a quite promising alternative to the standard “dry heat” and H₂O₂ methods [2].