Exobiology experiments for Earth-orbital platforms

Abstract

Low-gravity (microgravity) studies relevant to prebiotic evolution and the history of the biogenic elements (C, H, N, O, P, S) are particularly suited to orbital platforms. Relevant to these topics are phenomena such as gas-particle interactions (e.g., formation of organic aerosols via photolytic reactions) including nucleation, condensation, evaporation, adsorption, and catalytic reactions on surfaces; and, small-particle or grain interactions (e.g., growth of interstellar dust particles and planetesimals) including processes such as aggregation (or coagulation), scavenging, and collisions. Both gas-particle and grain (i.e., dust, crystals, organic aerosols, etc.) interactions studies can benefit from microgravity and are pertinent to studies in the areas of chemical evolution in the solar nebula, the interstellar medium, and planetary atmospheres; growth of planetesimals; and prebiotic evolution. In general, the microgravity environment allows for long duration and controlled simulations of processes occurring in exobiologically significant systems such as Titan's atmosphere, interstellar dust clouds, and the solar nebula in which gas-particle or particle-particle interactions play a significant role.