SSIOUX – Space simulation for investigating organics, evolution and exobiology

Ground based experiments, conducted in advanced space environment simulation facilities, complement the exo/astrobiological experiments in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). For example, the in-orbit ESA-facility EXPOSE on the International Space Station ISS can only accommodate a limited number of experiments for exposure to the space parameters high vacuum, intense radiation of galactic and solar origin and microgravity. Ground based experiments in carefully equipped and monitored simulation facilities allow necessary experiment preparation and additional investigation of a much wider variety of samples. In the ESA accepted experiment SSIOUX, ESA-RA-LS-01-PREP, an international consortium of 14 prime investigators will expose organic compounds and a wide range of microorganisms, from bacterial spores to complex microbial communities, to simulated space environment parameters in pursuit of exobiological questions on their resistance to space environment and the origin and distribution of life. The experiments will be conducted in the Planetary and Space Simulation Facilities of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at DLR in Koln, Germany, where the simulated space parameters vacuum with controlled residual composition, ionizing radiation, polychromatic UV radiation and selected UV ranges from vacuum-UV to UVA, VIS and IR or individual monochromatic UV wavelengths, and temperature control at the sample site are provided individually or in selected combinations in 9 facilities of varying sizes. Parameters are constantly measured and data are available in real time online during the exposure. Experiments in these facilities discriminate between the effects of individual space parameters and selected combinations. In addition, they serve as ground experiments defining interesting and suitable biological samples for future space experiments and compliment the data of executed space experiments and those in progress. As 1 × g controls, they also enable the identification of microgravity effects when compared to the space experiments. Here, the SSIOUX consortium and their experiments will be presented as well as the ground based Planetary and Space Simulation Facilities at DLR. The results of the SSIOUX experiments will be directly comparable and are designed to lead to further understanding of adaptation and evolution of life.