Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2015

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International Session (Poster)

Symbol B (Biogeosciences) » B-AO Astrobiology & the Origin of Life

[B-AO01] Astrobiology: Origins, Evolution, Distribution of Life

Wed. May 27, 2015 6:15 PM - 7:30 PM Convention Hall (2F)

Convener:*Kensei Kobayashi(Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University), Akihiko Yamagishi(Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, Department of Molecular Biology), Masatoshi Ohishi(Astronomy Data Center, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan), Eiichi Tajika(Department of Complexity Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo), Takeshi Kakegawa(Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University), Shigeru Ida(Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology)

6:15 PM - 7:30 PM

[BAO01-P05] Biological contamination control for silica aerogels in the Tanpopo mission

Yusuke KIYONAGA1, Junya IMANI1, *Sasaki SATOSHI1, Yuko KAWAGUCHI2, Eiichi IMAI3, Kyoko OKUDAIRA4, Makoto TABATA5, Akihiko YAMAGISHI6, Hajime YANO2 (1.Tokyo University of Technology, 2.Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3.Nagaoka University of Technology, 4.University of Aizu, 5.Chiba University, 6.Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences)

Keywords:Tanpopo mission, ISS, biological contamination

The capture and exposure panels of the Tanpopo mission, in which the panspermia hypothesis and chemical evolution are invesitgated, are onboard the Japanese Experimental Module (JEM) of International Space Station at about 400 km altitude since this spring. Micrometeoroid space debris and possible terrestrial aerosols are expected to be captured by ultra low-density silica aerogels that would be exposed in space at least one year. After returning back to the earth, the aerogels with "carrot-shaped" tracks formed by hypervelocity impacts of these microparticles should be documented, dissected and delivered to scientists for detailed analysis as soon as possible. During this process, biological contamination as well as chemical one must be avoided (Kiyonaga et al., 2013). Thus, in this study - (1) fabrication of aerogel processing machine called "Yokan Machine", (2) novel evaluation method for biological contamination, and (3) a procedure for pre-flight aerogel surface observation - will be reported from pre-flight simulation in the Tanpopo clean room at ISAS. Time required for the processing of aerogels was estimated from (1). Microbial contamination possibly from human skin during the period was evaluated using several methods including conventional particle counting and chemiluminescence. A novel method using model microbes was also performed. Methods for biological contamination control will be discussed.

Reference
Y. Kiyonaga et al. (2013) Method for Biological Contamination Monitoring During Aerogel Cutting Process in Tanpopo Project Using Bioluminescent Bacteria Photobacterium kishitanii. In International Astrobiology Workshop 2013, p. 33. LPI Contribution No. 1766, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston.