Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment

Prior to the Phobos LIFE experiment, a precursor LIFE prototype was successfully flown in 2011 aboard the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-134. Known as the Shuttle-LIFE (also LIFEAstrobiology.com, [https://archive.today/20120720004857/http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=33436 "LIFE Launches Aboard Endeavour's Last Flight"], The Planetary Society, 27 April 2011 (accessed 11-11-2011)) experiment.SPACE.com, [http://www.space.com/13596-phobos-grunt-life-experiment-salvaged.html "Salvaging Science from Stricken Mars Moon Probe: A Scientist's View"], David Warmflash, 11 November 2011Astrobiology.com, [https://archive.today/20120718041939/http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=33568 "LIFE Ready to Launch on Endeavour's Last Flight"], The Planetary Society, 16 May 2011 (accessed 11-11-11)

The project includes representatives of all three domains of life: bacteria, eukaryota and archaea. The capsule was transporting 10 types of organisms in 30 self-contained samples, i.e., each in triplicate. In addition, one or more natural native soil samples were flown in their own self-contained capsule. The Phobos-Soil sample return mission was the only attempted biological science mission that would have returned to Earth from deep space, far beyond the protection of Earth's magnetic field; sending biological samples through deep space is therefore a much better test of interplanetary survivability than sending the samples on a typical Earth-orbiting flight.

The project was being done in collaboration with the Russian Space Research Institute, the Institute for Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow State University, the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), and the Institute for Aerospace Medicine in Germany.

Three fundamental guidelines governed the selection of the organisms:{{cite web|url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/organisms.html |title=Ten Hardy Organisms Selected for the LIFE Experiment: Who will Survive the 3-Year Space Odyssey? |publisher=The Planetary Society |access-date=2 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120141404/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/organisms.html |archive-date=January 20, 2011 }} First, the organisms selected represent the three domains of life – eukaryote, bacteria and archaea. Second, the organisms are very well studied (e.g., having their genome sequenced and studied in many other experiments) to make it possible to accurately assess the effects of the long exposure to space. If they had already been studied in space conditions so much the better, since it would enable researchers to pinpoint precisely how organisms were affected by the years-long exposure to the interplanetary environment. Finally, a strong preference was given to organisms that appear to stand the best chance of surviving the journey. These are extremophiles, organisms that thrive in conditions that would kill the vast majority of Earthly creatures.

The 10 'passenger' organisms selected are listed below:

Bacteria

• Bacillus safensis
• Discovered in JPL's 'clean' room: Spacecraft Assembly Facility.The Planetary Report, Volume XXIX, number 2, March/April 2009, "We make it happen! Who will survive? Ten hardy organisms selected for the LIFE project, by Amir Alexander https://www.planetary.org/planetary-report/tpr-2009-2 Might already be on Mars with Spirit and Opportunity.
• Deinococcus radiodurans
• Is extremely resistant to radiation, can survive a dose of 5,000 Gy.
• Bacillus subtilis
• strain 168: common strain used in biology.
• strain MW01: UV-resistant strain evolved from 168. Part of EXPOSE-E.{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225288547| vauthors = Wassmann M, Moeller R, Rabbow E, Panitz C, Horneck G, Reitz G, Douki T, Cadet J, Stan-Lotter H, Cockell CS, Rettberg P | title = Survival of spores of the UV-resistant Bacillus subtilis strain MW01 after exposure to low-earth orbit and simulated martian conditions: data from the space experiment ADAPT on EXPOSE-E | journal = Astrobiology | volume = 12 | issue = 5 | pages = 498–507 | date = May 2012 | pmid = 22680695 | doi = 10.1089/ast.2011.0772 | bibcode = 2012AsBio..12..498W }}
• This species is well known from other astrobiological experiments.{{cite journal |last1=Nicholson |first1=WL |last2=Munakata |first2=N |last3=Horneck |first3=G |last4=Melosh |first4=HJ |last5=Setlow |first5=P |title=Resistance of Bacillus endospores to extreme terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. |journal=Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews |date=September 2000 |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=548–72 |pmid=10974126|doi=10.1128/MMBR.64.3.548-572.2000 |pmc=99004 }} It has flown to the Moon with Apollo and had multiyear exposure in low Earth orbit.

Archaea

• Haloarcula marismortui
• If Mars had an ocean, it would have been very salty. H. marismortui is halophilic.
• Methanothermobacter wolfeii
• Mars Express has discovered methane in the Martian atmosphere. M. wolfeii is a methane-producing organism.
• Pyrococcus furiosus
• P. furiosus thrives at about 100 °C, it was supposed to act as a maximum temperature indicator.

Eukaryote

• Fungus – Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast)
• Plantae – Seeds from Arabidopsis thaliana ('mouse-ear cress')
• Flew to the Moon with Apollo.
• Animalia – Tardigrades ('water bears')
• Have survived vacuum and radiation in low Earth orbit.

The mass of the Bio-Module on board the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft was 100 grams or less. The design is a short cylinder. The bio-module provided 30 small tubes (3 millimeters in diameter) for individual microbe samples. It also accommodated a native sample of bacteria – derived from a permafrost region on Earth – within a cavity 26 mm in diameter.

The module passed stress tests including a shake test with vibrations at frequencies to 1,100 Hz and an impact test of 4,000 g, designed to simulate the potential impact of the capsule on Earth. The LIFE experiment was launched on November 8, 2011 on board the Fobos-Grunt. However, the spacecraft failed to depart Earth orbit due to a programming error,{{cite news | first = Stephen | last = Clark | title = Russia: Computer crash doomed Phobos-Grunt | date = 6 February 2012 | url = http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1202/06phobosgrunt/ | work = Spaceflight Now | access-date =29 February 2012}}{{cite news | title = Programmers are to be blamed for the failure of Phobos mission | date = 31 January 2012 | url = http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/330393.html | work = ITAR-TASS News Agency | access-date =29 February 2012}} and fell back to Earth in the Pacific Ocean.RIA Novosti, [http://en.ria.ru/science/20111213/170212896.html "Phobos-Grunt mission ‘impossible,’ says chief designer"], 13 December 2011 The module was not recovered.{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00003327/ |title=Bruce Betts: Reflections on Phobos LIFE |author=Emily Lakdawalla |date=January 13, 2012 |work=The Planetary Society Blog |access-date=March 17, 2012 |archive-date=April 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120409005137/http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00003327 |url-status=dead }} The team is seeking out future exploratory opportunities.{{cite web |url=http://atomicwriter.com/blog4/2011/12/10/update-on-phobos-wheres-a-shuttle-when-you-need-it/ |title=Update on Phobos – Where's a shuttle when you need it? |first=Victor |last=Grippi |work=The Atomic Writer |access-date=6 May 2012 |archive-date=6 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106010600/http://atomicwriter.com/blog4/2011/12/10/update-on-phobos-wheres-a-shuttle-when-you-need-it/ |url-status=dead }}

• Astrobiology
• Fobos-Grunt
• Panspermia
• Planetary Society

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite news |script-title=ru:Запуск станции "Фобос-Грунт" к спутнику Марса отложен до 2011 года |url=http://www.rian.ru/science/20090921/185905786.html |agency=RIA Novosti |language=ru |date=21 September 2009 |access-date=14 October 2009}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/facts.html |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=The Planetary Society |access-date=2 April 2011 |archive-date=20 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220052941/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/facts.html |url-status=dead }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/life_20081015.html |first=Mark |last=Gelfand |title=LIFE Experiment Module Passes Vibration and Impact Tests |publisher=The Planetary Society |date=15 October 2008 |access-date=2 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605103617/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life/life_20081015.html |archive-date=5 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite journal|title=Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit |journal=Current Biology|date=9 September 2008|first=K. Ingemar Jönsson|last1=Jönsson|author2=Elke Rabbow |author3=Ralph O. Schill |author4=Mats Harms-Ringdahl |author5=Petra Rettberg |name-list-style=amp |pmid=18786368|volume=18|issue=17|pages=R729–R731|doi= 10.1016/j.cub.2008.06.048|doi-access=free}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Mission_Possible.html?c=y&page=4 |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |title=Mission Possible |date=1 September 2008 |work=Air & Space Magazine |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=26 May 2009}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/bacteria.html |title=The LIFE Organisms: Bacteria |first=Amir |last=Alexander |publisher=The Planetary Society |access-date=2 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030194637/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/bacteria.html |archive-date=30 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/archaea.html |title=The LIFE Organisms: Archaea |first=Amir |last=Alexander |publisher=The Planetary Society |access-date=2 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823191407/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/archaea.html |archive-date=23 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/eukaryotea.html |title=The LIFE Organisms: Eukaryotea |first=Amir |last=Alexander |publisher=The Planetary Society |access-date=2 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102124322/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/eukaryotea.html |archive-date=2 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}

}}

• The Planetary Society: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120107204546/http://planetary.org/shuttlelife/ Shuttle LIFE]
• The Planetary Society: [https://web.archive.org/web/20110316100755/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/life Phobos LIFE]
• The Planetary Society: [http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/ LIFE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217221528/http://planetary.org/programs/projects/life/ |date=2010-02-17 }}

{{Planetary Society}}

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Category:Fobos-Grunt

Category:Space science experiments

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