MARSBOx: Fungal and Bacterial Endurance From a Balloon-Flown Analog Mission in the Stratosphere.

ABSTRACT: Whether terrestrial life can withstand the martian environment is of paramount interest for planetary protection measures and space exploration. To understand microbial survival potential in Mars-like conditions, several fungal and bacterial samples were launched in September 2019 on a large NASA scientific balloon flight to the middle stratosphere (∼38 km altitude) where radiation levels resembled values at the equatorial Mars surface. Fungal spores of Aspergillus niger and bacterial cells of Salinisphaera shabanensis, Staphylococcus capitis subsp. capitis, and Buttiauxella sp. MASE-IM-9 were launched inside the MARSBOx (Microbes in Atmosphere for Radiation, Survival, and Biological Outcomes Experiment) payload filled with an artificial martian atmospher

SUBMITTER: Cortesao M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7937622 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature