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Descendants of the seeds-cosmonauts from the Botanic Garden of Samara, semiconductor “special forces”, ready for the most severe tests in outer space, and experimental scientific equipment created by scientists from Samara University successfully launched into space aboard the orbital Laboratory “Bion-M” No. 2. The launch vehicle “Soyuz-2.1b” with the scientific spacecraft onboard was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome site on the evening of August 20, at 20:13 Moscow time.
The spacecraft “Bion-M No. 2” was created at the Rocket and Space Centre “Progress” in Samara, and some of its scientific devices and equipment were developed and manufactured at Samara University. Along with scientists from all over Russia, the staff of the University’s Faculty of Biology, Botanic Garden, Institute of Space Instrumentation Engineering, and Research Institute of Modeling and Control Problems participated in preparing the scientific mission.
The flight program is scheduled for a month. On board the orbiting laboratory, there are mice, fruit flies, fungi, bacteria, cellular tissues and plant seeds from the Botanic Garden of Samara. The main goal of the scientific program is studying biological effects of weightlessness and high-level cosmic radiation on living organisms at the systemic, organ, cellular and molecular levels.
“Princesses on Peas”
For the flight on “Bion-M” No. 2, Samara University formed the team of seeds-cosmonauts in advance: the specialists of the Botanic Garden selected a batch of seeds from 25 rare plants listed in the Red Books of the Russian Federation and the Red Book of the Samara Region.
The seeds were selected following the results of the thorough study of their health: they were literally shone through and examined under the microscope. Among those selected for the flight, there were, for example, seeds of plants, such as Bupleurum aureum, Schrenck’s tulip, fern-leaf peony, Laser trilobum, Persian poppy, Gypsophila zhegulensis, Asphodelina Krymskaya, pasqueflower, heartleaf crambe and some other species of red-book rare plants.
The space batch also included seeds of two plants to be grown from seeds that flew onboard the first “Bion-M” in 2013, and successfully germinated upon return to Earth: these are seeds of Dianthus andrzejowskianus and perennial flax. The “cosmonauts’ grandchildren”, that is, the seeds of those plants in their second generation, flew into orbit. Based on the results of the new flight, scientists should assess how staying in orbit will affect seed germination and post-flight development of seedlings, as well as try to analyze the effect of repeated exposure of space factors on plant generations.
Over the long history of space exploration, seeds of various plants have been in orbit more than once. The experiment conducted by Samara University’s scientists is unique because the object of their study are seeds of not agricultural crops, but ones of natural flora, especially rare species, and some of them are “descendants” of the seeds that have already been in space. Rare plants of the wild flora are physiologically more sensitive to environmental changes, so they, like that fairy-tale princess on a pea, will be able to show the influence of space flight factors much more vividly.
Space “thermometer”
For measuring the temperature in containers with biological objects, Samara University’s scientists developed and manufactured the space “thermometer”, a complex of scientific equipment MRT-2 (multichannel temperature recorder). It has no analogues in Russia and abroad and is completely assembled from domestic electronic components.
The instrument complex keeps a detailed temperature records in containers placed on the outer surface of the orbital laboratory in open space (the temperature in the compartments with mice and flies is measured by other devices). The data are registered in a wide range of temperatures – from -150°C to +150°C. This instrument complex is assumed to be further used as standard equipment in next domestic orbital laboratories of the series “Bion-M”.
Orbital “climate control”
From the space “thermometer” to the orbital “climate control”: the laboratory is furnished with the scientific equipment “SIGMA-2” developed at Samara University. It helps create a comfortable temperature regime for various biological objects – cell cultures, microorganisms and plant seeds. This equipment operation can be simplified to compare with the effect of multi-zone climate control in a car, when different set temperatures are maintained in different places of the car interior.
The temperature conditions required for conducting the experiments are created by special heaters of a particular shape with electric coils, developed at the University. The temperature inside the units is monitored by 15 sensors. Moreover, “SIGMA-2” is not only “climate control”: it not only provides preset temperatures, but also regulates the composition of the nutrient medium for cell cultures.
Semiconductor of a special purpose
Using the scientific equipment “Carbon-2” created at Samara University, prototypes of domestic space electronics based on silicon carbide will be tested on the board of the orbital laboratory. This semiconductor material is only the second to diamond and boron nitride in hardness, and is considered the most promising for the use in electronics operating under extreme conditions, such as high temperatures, gravitational overloads and radiation exposure.
During the tests, specifications and operability of the studied instrument structures in open space conditions will be assessed. When the spacecraft returns to the Earth, the data obtained will be analyzed, which will make it possible to predict the functioning parameters of new semiconductor devices in the conditions of a space flight. Scientists expect that devices based on silicon carbide films may be an order of magnitude more reliable, more accurate and more durable than their analogues currently produced by the global space industry, and may find application in deep space missions, for example, during flights to Mars.
Take a deep breath, microcosmonauts!
Three sets of important technological and scientific equipment for the orbital laboratory were developed by the staff of Samara University’s Institute of Space Instrumentation Engineering (ISIE).
The ISIE scientists and engineers participated in developing the most important equipment of the biolab – the life support system (LSS). They have developed its control, monitoring and switching unit. Its task is to control supplying oxygen and removing carbon dioxide and ammonia, ventilate the supplied gas mixture and control the temperature and pressure in the gas cylinders. That is, the breathing and the life of the inhabitants of the orbital laboratory directly depend on the operation of this equipment.
For control the influencing forces, experimental conditions, and assessment of possible sources of stress for the living inhabitants of the orbital laboratory during the launch preparation, the launch, the orbital flight, and the landing, two instrument complexes, “KSKM-2” and “Monitor-SA”, were developed at the ISIE.
So, the complex “KSKM-2” measures the magnetic field and calculates microaccelerations in specified points of the laboratory. These data will help evaluate the experimental results more accurately, since under zero gravity conditions, the presence of even minor micro-accelerations can have a major impact on the quality of the study.
Using its various sensors, the instrument complex “Monitor-SA” will record data on acceleration, temperature, pressure and the level of the magnetic field inside the lander of the biolab, as well as monitor the device position in space via navigation receivers. All the information on impacts and conditions of the space experiments (research) is recorded and will be subsequently analyzed on the Earth.
The material was prepared with the support of Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science, in the framework of the Decade of Science and Technology. See more detailed information on the website of the project “Possessed by Science”.
Photo by Ivan Timoshenko, Roscosmos, Olesya Orina, Anar Movsumov, Samara University
For reference:
“Bion” is a series of domestic spacecrafts for biological research. From 1973 to 1996, 11 satellites of the series were launched into outer space; several-dozen types of biological objects – unicellular organisms, plants, insects, fish, amphibians, turtles, rats, monkeys – visited space. In April 2013, the first upgraded biological satellite “Bion-M” was launched. Its “crew” included mice, desert rats, geckos, snails, crustaceans, fish and various microorganisms.
