[meteorite-list] NASA Nanosatellite Studies Life in Space, Demonstrates Technology

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:50:06 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201011192050.oAJKo6Cd003530_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2010/M10-106.html

Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-0643
rachel.hoover at nasa.gov
Nov. 18, 2010
 
MEDIA ADVISORY : M10-106
 
NASA Nanosatellite Studies Life in Space, Demonstrates Technology
 
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA is preparing to fly a small satellite
about the size of a loaf of bread that could help answer astrobiology's
fundamental questions about the origin, evolution, and distribution of
life in the universe. The nanosatellite, known as Organism/Organic
Exposure to Orbital Stresses, or O/OREOS, is a secondary payload aboard
a U.S. Air Force four-stage Minotaur IV rocket planned for launch on
Nov. 19, 2010.

O/OREOS weighs approximately 12 pounds and is NASA's first CubeSat to
demonstrate the capability to have two distinct, completely independent
science experiments on a single autonomous satellite. O/OREOS also will
use NASA's first propellant-less mechanism on a scientific satellite to
ensure it de-orbits and burns up as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere less
than 25 years after completing its mission.

"Secondary payload nanosatellites, like O/OREOS are an innovative way to
extend and enhance scientists' opportunities to conduct research in low
Earth orbit by providing an alternative to the International Space
Station or space shuttle investigations," said Pascale Ehrenfreund,
O/OREOS project scientist at the Space Policy Institute at George
Washington University. "With O/OREOS we can analyse of the stability of
organics in the local space environment in real-time and test flight
hardware that can be used for future payloads to address fundamental
astrobiology objectives."

The Minotaur IV rocket is on the launch pad at the Alaska Aerospace
Corporation's Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The range
is conducting final checkouts. The U.S. Air Force has announced that the
rocket could launch at any time during a 90-minute launch window
beginning at 5:24 p.m. PST on Nov. 19, 2010.

After O/OREOS separates from the Minotaur IV rocket and successfully
enters low Earth orbit at approximately 400 miles above Earth, it will
activate and begin transmitting radio signals to ground control stations
and spacecraft operators in the mission control center at Santa Clara
University, Santa Clara, Calif.

"We are excited to have this opportunity to demonstrate the utility of
these very small spacecraft in space for NASA's science missions," said
Bruce Yost, O/OREOS mission manager at NASA's Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, Calif. "We're hoping to demonstrate NASA's ability to
build complex nanosatellites like O/OREOS that can meet the needs of
scientists with big ideas and lofty goals."

Spacecraft operators could make contact with O/OREOS as soon as 12.5
hours after launch. O/OREOS will conduct experiments, which will last up
to six months, autonomously or after receiving a command from the Santa
Clara ground station. Once the experiments begin, O/OREOS will relay
data daily to mission managers, engineers and project scientists for
further analysis. Spacecraft operators say the nanosatellite is
scheduled to transmit mission data for a year.

O/OREOS, the first technology demonstration mission of NASA's
Astrobiology Small Payloads Program, contains two experiment payloads,
including the Space Environment Survivability of Live Organisms (SESLO),
which will characterize the growth, activity, health and ability of
microorganisms to adapt to the stresses of the space environment, and
the Space Environment Viability of Organics (SEVO), which will monitor
the stability and changes in four classes of organic molecules as they
are exposed to space conditions.

The SESLO payload will monitor biological organisms' responses as they
are exposed to radiation and weightless conditions in space. The
experiment is sealed and contains two types of microbes commonly found
in salt ponds and soil in a dried and dormant state: Halorubrum
chaoviatoris and Bacillus subtilis. After O/OREOS reaches orbit, the
experiment will rehydrate, or "feed," and grow three sets of the
microbes. The SESLO experiment measures the microbes' population density
and change in color while they consume the dyed liquid nutrients.

For the SEVO experiment, scientists selected molecules distributed
throughout our galaxy as well building blocks of life. O/OREOS houses
the organic samples in "micro environments" to mimic space and planetary
conditions. The experiment will expose the organic compounds to
radiation in the form of solar ultraviolet (UV) light, visible light,
trapped-particle and cosmic radiation. Scientists will determine the
stability of the molecules by studying the changes in UV, visible and
near-infrared light absorption.

The Small Spacecraft Division at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif,, manages the O/OREOS payload and mission operations with
the professional support of staff and students from Santa Clara
University, Santa Clara, Calif.

As with NASA's previous small satellite missions, such as the GeneSat-1
and PharmaSat, Santa Clara University invites amateur radio operators
around the world to tune in to the satellite's broadcast.

For more information and instructions about how to contact O/OREOS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/ooreos/main

To view the launch via webcast, visit:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/stps26/status.html

- end -
 
Received on Fri 19 Nov 2010 03:50:06 PM PST