Sneak Peek #22 - Exposing of organic and biological materials in open space.

The EXPOSE-R is an European Space Agency experiment that was held on the outside of the Russian ISS segment for the 22 months. Its main aim was undertaking exobiological studies on the effects of the space environment (ultraviolet radiation, vacuum and ionizing radiation) on organic and biological materials. This would allow to explore the likelihood and limitations of the spread of life beyond the Earth on other planets in the Solar System, as well as provide a better understanding of the processes governing the interaction of life with the environment on Earth.

During the experiment, the selective effect of hard cosmic ultraviolet radiation (with a wavelength of 200 nm) on the resting forms of various biological objects was first established.

Spores of microorganisms, seeds of higher plants, dry crustacean embryos that survived in the absence of ultraviolet, exhibited in outer space, died influenced by it, but the spores of microscopic fungi (Aspergillus sydowii, Aspergillus versicolor) and the mosquito larvae (Polypedilum vanderplankii) partially maintained their vitality under these conditions.