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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

BioSentinel: NASA’s First Deep Space Biological Mission

Since Apollo 17 in 1972, NASA has sent no humans or other biological organisms outside of Earth’s protective magnetosphere. NASA’s current Artemis program plans to put astronauts back on the Moon and eventually land human missions on Mars. One of the major challenges to long-duration crewed travel and habitation in deep space is an in-depth understanding of the biological effects of space radiation, often convoluted by the impact of reduced gravity. Such missions will require significant countermeasures, likely both technological and biomedical, to protect organisms from chronic radiation exposure. Small satellite missions like CubeSats can inform these countermeasures by investigating model organisms in relevant space environments. The BioSentinel mission is comprised of four segments developed at NASA Ames Research Center: a 6U CubeSat (1U = 10-cm cube), an ISS payload launched in December 2021 and two ground units, one for the mission’s CubeSat and one for the ISS payload. The last three segments have been operational since January 2022 and serve as experimental controls. BioSentinel’s 6U CubeSat is planned to launch as a secondary payload on the Artemis-1 rocket. It will be deployed on a lunar fly-by trajectory and into a heliocentric orbit. BioSentinel will be the first interplanetary satellite to study the biological response to space radiation outside Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in almost 50 years. BioSentinel is a complete, autonomous spacecraft capable of conducting experiments in deep space. Its 4U BioSensor payload is a fully automated and adaptable platform that can perform biological measurements with a range of microorganisms in multiple space environments, including the ISS, free flyers, and other platforms like the Lunar Gateway and lander vehicles. Once it reaches its orbit, BioSentinel’s CubeSat will measure the DNA damage response to ambient radiation in a model organism, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which will be compared to information provided by an onboard radiation sensor and to data obtained in LEO (on ISS) and on Earth. Once in interplanetary space, fluidic cards containing desiccated yeast will be activated by growth medium addition at different time points throughout the mission. Growth and metabolic activity will be tracked continuously via optical measurements. This paper describes BioSentinel’s objectives, science, data management, and preliminary results from the ISS and ISS ground control segments.

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

BioSentinel: NASA’s First Deep Space Biological Mission

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRS2001

Aerodynamic Performance of an Active Flow Control Configuration Using Unstructured-Grid RANS

This research is focused on assessing the value of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methodology for active flow control applications. An experimental flow control database exists for a TAU0015 airfoil, which is a modification of a NACA0015 airfoil. The airfoil has discontinuities at the leading edge due to the implementation of a fluidic actuator and aft of mid chord on the upper surface. This paper documents two- and three-dimensional computational results for the baseline wing configuration (no control) with tile experimental results. The two-dimensional results suggest that the mid-chord discontinuity does not effect the aerodynamics of the wing and can be ignored for more efficient computations. The leading-edge discontinuity significantly affects tile lift and drag; hence, the integrity of the leading-edge notch discontinuity must be maintained in the computations to achieve a good match with the experimental data. The three-dimensional integrated performance results are in good agreement with the experiments inspite of some convergence and grid resolution issues.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Aerodynamic Performance of an Active Flow Control Configuration Using Unstructured-Grid RANS

This research is focused on assessing the value of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methodology for active flow control applications. An experimental flow control database exists for a TAU0015 airfoil, which is a modification of a NACA0015 airfoil. The airfoil has discontinuities at the leading edge due to the implementation of a fluidic actuator and aft of mid chord oil the upper surface. This paper documents two- and three-dimensional computational results for the baseline wing configuration (no control) with the experimental results. The two-dimensional results suggest that the mid-chord discontinuity does not effect the aerodynamics of the wing and can be ignored for more efficient computations. The leading-edge discontinuity significantly affects the lift and drag; hence the integrity of the leading-edge notch discontinuity must be maintained in the computations to achieve a good match with the experimental data. The three-dimensional integrated performance results are in good agreement with the experiments in spite of some convergence and grid resolution issues.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Payload Hardware and Experimental Protocol for Testing the Effect of Space Microgravity on the Resistance to Gentamicin of Stationary-Phase Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli and Its Sigma (sup S)-Deficient Mutant

Human immune response is compromised and bacteria can become more antibiotic resistant in space microgravity (MG). We report that under low-shear modeled microgravity (LSMMG) stationary-phase uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) become more resistant to gentamicin (Gm). UPEC causes urinary tract infections (UTIs), reported to afflict astronauts; Gm is a standard treatment, so these findings could impact astronaut health. Because LSMMG has been shown to differ from MG, we report here preparations to examine UPEC's Gm sensitivity during spaceflight using the E. coli Anti-Microbial Satellite (EcAMSat) on a free flying nanosatellite in low Earth orbit. Within EcAMSats payload, a 48-microwell fluidic card contains and supports study of bacterial cultures at constant temperature; optical absorbance changes in cell suspensions are made at three wavelengths for each microwell and a fluid-delivery system provides growth medium and predefined Gm concentrations. Performance characterization is reported for spaceflight prototypes of this payload system. Using conventional microtiter plates, we show that Alamar Blue (AB) absorbance changes due to cellular metabolism accurately reflect E. coli viability changes: measuring AB absorbance onboard EcAMSat will enable telemetry of spaceflight data to Earth. Laboratory results using payload prototypes are consistent with wellplate and flask findings of differential sensitivity of UPEC and its delta rpoS strain to Gm. Space MG studies using EcAMSat should clarify inconsistencies from previous space experiments on bacterial antibiotic sensitivity. Further, if sigma (sup s) plays the same role in space MG as in LSMMG and Earth gravity, EcAMSat results would facilitate utilizing our previously developed terrestrial UTI countermeasures in astronauts.

Matin, A. C.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Microbial Optical Data Processing: A Key Step in the Metabolic Assessment of Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications (LEIA) and Biosentinel’s Payload Data

The BioSensor payload platform on BioSentinel and LEIA autonomously collects optical data from microbial model organisms in liquid culture. The BioSensor is designed to monitor metabolic activity using absorbance measurements of cell density and alamarBlue, a readily available colorimetric redox indicator dye. BioSentinel, a pioneering NASA CubeSat, uses yeast to study deep space radiation. LEIA investigates radiation and lunar gravity response. The experimental setup includes 16 wells equipped with three LEDs (570, 630, and 850 nm) and their corresponding photodetectors. One well is a calibration control without biology while the rest have desiccated cultures. Autonomous rehydration initiates the experiment. Data from the BioSensor are received from the flight and ground units, enabling comparison to uncover location-based metabolic rate variations. This study presents a Python Jupyter notebook developed for efficient data processing of multiple CSV files containing date and time columns, temperature, and well illumination data. It offers a user-friendly interface while maintaining computational power, automatically recognizing and iteratively processing data files in a user-input path. A Hampel filter with a short window eliminates outlier artifacts from sensor dropout. Because absorbance is a relative measurement, conversion from raw illumination requires defining a “blank” value, so the first data points are averaged to provide the necessary denominator. A cube-root function correction mitigates undesired drift caused by air pockets during the fluidic card filling phase, maintaining optical path length consistency. Beer-Lambert's law is applied to further convert absorbance values to cell and dye form concentrations, the desired science parameters. The processed data are saved and visualized as SVG plots. Future plans include extracting specific science parameters from the processed data like growth rate and metabolic rate, and identification of features corresponding to metabolic and phenotypic shifts such as starvation, shifts from aerobic to anaerobic growth, and osmotic stresses.

Space biology↗

NASA NTRS1984

Acoustic excitation: A promising new means of controlling shear layers

Techniques have long been sought for the controlled modification of turbulent shear layers, such as in jets, wakes, boundary layers, and separated flows. Relatively recently published results of laboratory experiments have established that coherent structures exist within turbulent flows. These results indicate that even apparently chaotic flow fields can contain deterministic, nonrandom elements. Even more recently published results show that deliberate acoustic excitation of these coherent structures has a significant effect on the mixing characteristics of shear layers. Therefore, we have initiated a research effort to develop both an understanding of the interaction mechanisms and the ability to use it to favorably modify various shear layers. Acoustic excitation circumvents the need for pumping significant flow rates, as required by suction or blowing. Control of flows by intentional excitation of natural flow instabilities involves new and largely unexplored phenomena and offers considerable potential for improving component performance. Nonintrusive techniques for flow field control may permit much more efficient, flexible propulsion systems and aircraft designs, including means of stall avoidance and recovery. The techniques developed may also find application in many other areas where mixing is important, such as reactors, continuous lasers, rocket engines, and fluidic devices. It is the objective of this paper to examine some potential applications of the acoustic excitation technique to various shear layer flows of practical aerospace systems.

Stone, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Life Science Research in Outer Space: New Platform Technologies for Low-Cost, Autonomous Small Satellite Missions

We develop integrated instruments and platforms suitable for economical, frequent space access for autonomous life science experiments and processes in outer space. The technologies represented by three of our recent free-flyer small-satellite missions are the basis of a rapidly growing toolbox of miniaturized biologically/biochemically-oriented instrumentation now enabling a new generation of in-situ space experiments. Autonomous small satellites (~ 1 50 kg) are less expensive to develop and build than fullsize spacecraft and not subject to the comparatively high costs and scheduling challenges of human-tended experimentation on the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and comparable platforms. A growing number of commercial, government, military, and civilian space launches now carry small secondary science payloads at far lower cost than dedicated missions; the number of opportunities is particularly large for so-called cube-sat and multicube satellites in the 1 10 kg range. The recent explosion in nano-, micro-, and miniature technologies, spanning fields from telecommunications to materials to bio/chemical analysis, enables development of remarkably capable autonomous miniaturized instruments to accomplish remote biological experimentation. High-throughput drug discovery, point-of-care medical diagnostics, and genetic analysis are applications driving rapid progress in autonomous bioanalytical technology. Three of our recent missions exemplify the development of miniaturized analytical payload instrumentation: GeneSat-1 (launched: December 2006), PharmaSat (launched: May 2009), and O/OREOS (organism/organics exposure to orbital stresses; scheduled launch: May 2010). We will highlight the overall architecture and integration of fluidic, optical, sensor, thermal, and electronic technologies and subsystems to support and monitor the growth of microorganisms in culture in these small autonomous space satellites, including real-time tracking of their culture density, gene expression, and metabolic activity while in the space environment. Flight data and results will be presented from GeneSat-1, which tracked gene expression levels of GFP-labeled E. coli and from PharmaSat, which monitored the dose dependency of an antifungal agent against S. cerevisiae. The O/OREOS SESLO instrument, which will study the effects of radiation and microgravity upon the viability and growth characteristics of B. subtilis and the halophile Halorubrum chaoviatoris for periods of 0 - 6 months in space, will be described as well. The ongoing expansion of the small satellite toolbox of biological technologies will be summarized.

Ricco, Antonio J.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Enabling Experimental Evolution: Multi-Parameter Sensor System Integration into a Culture/Stressor Biofluidics System

Experimental evolution (EE) exposes microbial communities to ecological stressors, simulating dynamics up to near-extinction events. Combined with comparative sequencing and other molecular tools, such data can inform the genetic and other biological mechanisms underlying extremophile adaptation, and other observed effects. Automating this type of experiment using biofluidics can mitigate many traditional obstacles, including delays in assay results and environment adjustment and the need for many replicates. A first-generation device for automating EE procedures, the Automated Adaptive Directed Evolution Chamber (AADEC), was developed at NASA Ames. UV-C radiation was the stressor, an LED-photodiode array measured optical density, magnetic agitation and peristaltic pump systems ensured nutrient availability, and Arduino microcontrollers provided control. Escherichia coli in LB kanamycin media was used for testing and performance verification. A manual laboratory procedure with timed exposure to UV-C was performed to typify tolerance acquisition. Approximately a 106 factor increase in survival ratio was recorded over multiple iterations. Currently, a second-generation device is being developed integrating more real-time sensors: redox potential (ORP), indicating available/consumed metabolic energy; dissolved oxygen (DO), indicating aerobic/anaerobic growth; pH, indicating metabolic products; and electrical conductivity (EC), another indicator of metabolic products. The EC sensor system was constructed and calibrated in-house and matched commercial sensors in the required range. A Raspberry Pi computer automated the electrical system, allowing real-time data acquisition. The fluidics card was made of CNC-milled polycarbonate for biocompatibility. Each sensor parameter can also be used as a selection pressure alone or in combination with others to create extreme microbial environments. As a proof of concept, this work demonstrated sensor operation in one pair of growth-sensor chambers. It can be expanded to a multi-chamber system to enable inter-culture comparisons and multi-population studies. The prior Arduino system will be ported to the RPi system. Future stressors to be added include thermal, reactive oxygen species, and varying nutrient availability.

Govinda Raj, Chinmayee↗

NASA NTRS2001

Baseline Validation of Unstructured Grid Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Toward Flow Control

The value of the use of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes methodology for active flow control applications is assessed. An experimental flow control database exists for a NACA0015 airfoil modified at the leading edge to implement a fluidic actuator; hence, this configuration is used. Computational results are documented for the baseline wing configuration (no control) with the experimental results and assumes two-dimensional flow. The baseline wing configuration has discontinuities at the leading edge, trailing edge, and aft of midchord on the upper surface. A limited number of active flow control applications have been tested in the laboratory and in flight. These applications include dynamic stall control using a deformable leading edge, separation control for takeoff and landing flight conditions using piezoelectric devices, pulsed vortex generators, zero-net-mass oscillations, and thrust vectoring with zero-net-mass piezoelectric-driven oscillatory actuation. As yet, there is no definitive comparison with experimental data that indicates current computational capabilities can quantitatively predict the large aerodynamic performance gains achieved with active flow control in the laboratory. However, one study using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) methodology has shown good quantitative agreement with experimental results for an isolated zero-net-mass actuator. In addition, some recent studies have used RANS to demonstrate qualitative performance gains compared with the experimental data for separation control on an airfoil. Those quantitative comparisons for both baseline and flow control cases indicated that computational results were in poor quantitative agreement with the experiments. The current research thrust will investigate the potential use of an unstructured grid RANS approach to predict aerodynamic performance for active flow control applications building on the early studies. First the computational results must quantitatively match experiments for the no-control case before proceeding to the time-dependent flow control case. This paper documents the baseline (no-control) case using an unswept airfoil configuration. The next section describes the configurations used for the computations and the experimentals. The computational approach is then described followed by results and concluding remarks.

Joslin, Ronald D.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Jet Noise Reduction

The Acoustics Branch is responsible for reducing noise levels for jet and fan components on aircraft engines. To do this, data must be measured and calibrated accurately to ensure validity of test results. This noise reduction is accomplished by modifications to hardware such as jet nozzles, and by the use of other experimental hardware such as fluidic chevrons, elliptic cores, and fluidic shields. To insure validity of data calibration, a variety of software is used. This software adjusts the sound amplitude and frequency to be consistent with data taken on another day. Both the software and the hardware help make noise reduction possible. work properly. These software programs were designed to make corrections for atmosphere, shear, attenuation, electronic, and background noise. All data can be converted to a one-foot lossless condition, using the proper software corrections, making a reading independent of weather and distance. Also, data can be transformed from model scale to full scale for noise predictions of a real flight. Other programs included calculations of Over All Sound Pressure Level (OASPL), Effective Perceived Noise Level (EPNL). OASPL is the integration of sound with respect to frequency, and EPNL is weighted for a human s response to different sound frequencies and integrated with respect to time. With the proper software correction, data taken in the NATR are useful in determining ways to reduce noise. display any difference between two or more data files. Using this program and graphs of the data, the actual and predicted data can be compared. This software was tested on data collected at the Aero Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory (AAPL) using a variety of window types and overlaps. Similarly, short scripts were written to test each individual program in the software suite for verification. Each graph displays both the original points and the adjusted points connected with lines. During this summer, data points were taken during a live experiment at the AAPL to measure Nozzle Acoustic Test Rig (NATR) background noise levels. Six condenser microphones were placed in strategic locations around the dome and the inlet tunnel to measure different noise sources. From the control room the jet was monitored with the help of video cameras and other sensors. The data points were recorded, reduced, and plotted, and will be used to plan future modifications to the NATR. The primary goal to create data reduction test programs and provide verification was completed. As a result of the internship, I learned C/C++, UNIX/LINUX, Excel, and acoustic data processing methods. I also recorded data at the AAPL, then processed and plotted it. These data would be useful to compare against existing data. In addition, I adjusted software to work on the Mac OSX platform. And I used the available training resources.

Kenny, Patrick↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Spaceflight Autonomous Multigenerational Microbial Sequencer in Support of Plant-Growth Systems

The CubeSat platform has proven successful in obtaining meaningful life science information when biological payloads are incorporated. Examples include: 1) the first-ever CubeSat with a biological payload, GeneSat-1, which demonstrated decreased growth rates for flight samples of Escherichia coli in low Earth orbit (Parra et al. 2008); 2) PharmaSat, demonstrated that Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the microgravity environment exhibits a significant level of metabolic activity even at high doses of applied antifungal (Ricco et al. 2011); 3) O/OREOS, which used Bacillus subtilis(bacteria) to demonstrate for the first time that microorganisms can be loaded in a dried, dormant form and then rehydrated and grown in orbit months after launch (Nicholson et al. 2011; Ehrenfreund et al. 2014; 4) the SporeSat payload, which investigated Ceratopteris richardii(fern spores) using lab-on-a-chip devices (BioCDs) and minicentrifuges to produce artificial gravitational forces in ground studies (Park et al. 2017), with demonstration of the BioCD and minicentrifuge in space; 5) EcAMSat, the first CubeSat to be directly deployed from the ISS for an experiment assessing antibiotic resistance of E. coli in the microgravity environment (Padgen et al. 2020); 6) BioSentinel, exposed a culture of yeast to galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and solar particle events while in heliocentric orbit to measure the rate of double-strand-break repair using DNA-repair-deficient mutants. This effort measures the metabolic parameters of yeast in a deep-space environment compared to Earth ambient conditions using a 3-color LED detection system (Ricco et al. 2020; Padgen et al. 2021). We aim to expand this list to include a Spaceflight Autonomous Multigenerational Microbial Sequencer (SAMMS). SAMMS will allow for the genome level understanding of changes in growth and metabolic activity for any organism. While microbes are suitable for early studies in our proposed platform because of their small size, small and relatively less-complicated genomes, fast generation times, and relevance to life support systems; multicellular organisms can similarly be evaluated for their genetic response to the spaceflight environment. The Spaceflight Autonomous Multigenerational Microbial Sequencer (SAMMS) will enable autonomous sequencing of biological samples in plant production units, cislunar orbit and on the lunar surface to examine spaceflight effects (ie. radiation, altered gravity, reduced pressures) on plant and microbial genomes.On this team a Kennedy Space Center (KSC) space crop production and water systems microbiologist/molecular biologist works with a Johnson Space Center (JSC) International Space Station (ISS) microbial sequencing expert and an Ames Research Center (ARC) CubeSat Engineering team to convert an automated Oxford Nanopore librarypreparation and sequencing method to a fluidic CubeSat payload system. The Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing platform has proven successful in the spaceflight environment onboard the ISS (Stahl-Rommel et al. 2021). Further long-duration spaceflight and exposure to high levels of radiation will cause genotypic effects in biological organisms that may affect their function. Monitoring the adaption of a population to the spaceflight environment and any subsequent beneficial mutations will allow for the harnessing of organisms best suited for use in life support systems. This will ensure that the selected life support-essential microorganisms maintain their intended specified function over generations of culturing in the relevant spaceflight environment without becoming hazardous to crew or spacecraft systems.

Aubrie E Orourke↗

NASA NTRS2024

The CapiSorb Visible System (CVS) Demonstrations on ISS

Falling liquid film amine sorbent reactors have been successfully employed to scrub CO 2 aboard submarines for decades. However, applying such proven methods aboard orbiting and coast spacecraft is significantly challenged by the nearly weightless environment, where liquid sprays and films do not fall, and vapor bubbles and gases do not rise. The Capillary Sorbent (CapiSorb) Visible System (CVS) is a technology demonstration experiment performed aboard the ISS April 18 – 21, 2023. The system establishes stable steady thin liquid film flows in Contactor (absorber) and Degasser (desorber/stripper) replacing the passive role of gravity with the combined passive roles of surface tension, wetting, and system geometry. A TOX-0 fructose ersatz liquid sorbent is employed enabling ‘transparent’ experiments performed and filmed by the crew safely in the open cabin of the ISS. Completed objectives include demonstrations of stable passive ‘massively’ parallel planar thin film capillary flows across atmospheric pressure Contactor and sealed heated Degasser. The impacts of varying flow rate, flow direction, heat input, viscosity, positive and negative Degasser pressures, condensate collection and return, fluid distribution, interfacial stability, and others are reported. At least 49 diagnostics are recorded for digitization and subsequent thermal-fluids model validation by a single HD video downlink during the nearly 22 hours of operations. An overview of the flight hardware including description of the components, diagnostics, crew procedures, flight operations, and summary of accomplishments is reported in Ref. 1. Further details of the diagnostics, tests performed, and data reduction is reported in Ref. 2. This report collects both1,2 into a single report adding methods of data digitization, reduction, and archive along with analyses and discussions of technology impacts.

microgravity↗