[JEM Microbe]
Evaluation of Indoor Microbial Environment in JEM, Kibo Japanese Experiment Module

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

• Space habitation is a simple ecosystem that mainly consists of humans and microbes, and it is necessary to establish a stable symbiotic relationship between the two since some microbes can cause infectious diseases. To ensure microbiological safety in the space habitat, the Evaluation of Indoor Microbial Environment in JEM, Kibo Japanese Experiment Module (JEM Microbe) investigation provides a comprehensive analysis of environmental microbiota that is indispensable to estimate the risk of microbes to humans and the infrastructure aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
• JEM Microbe continues the expansion of on-going microbiological monitoring in Kibo, along with the previous investigations “Microbe-I/II/III/IV”, to reveal the changes of bioburden, microbial community structure, and the physiologically active microbial community in the ISS.
• Microbiological risk can be evaluated and enable the determination of the “alert” and/or “action” level of microbes in the space habitats.

DESCRIPTION

Space habitation is a simple ecosystem that mainly consists of humans, microbes, and in the near future with plants. Microbes play an important role for materials cycling and make beneficial contributions to human life, but sometimes can cause hazardous infectious diseases. The importance of microbiological monitoring is very high for long-duration missions, and studies on the relationship between human and microbes in space habitation environments are indispensable for success. Progress is made in these astrobiological studies are based on past and current collaborative studies with JAXA.

Continuous microbial monitoring, with newly available microbiological methods, provides precise microbial information such as changes in bioburden, microbial community structure, and physiologically active microbial community on the International Space Station. The information obtained from Evaluation of Indoor Microbial Environment in JEM, Kibo Japanese Experiment Module (JEM Microbe) contributes to helping determine the “alert” and/or “action” level of microbes in order to reduce potential hazards for the crew and the infrastructure.

SPACE APPLICATIONS

Continuous monitoring of the space station’s microbial community provides insights into how it changes during prolonged habitation. Evidence of changes in the bioburden, community structure and physiological activity of the microbial community helps determine the level of risk to crew health. This has particular importance for future long-duration missions.

EARTH APPLICATIONS

The monitoring and analysis methods used in this investigation have applications on Earth, including in the pharmaceutical and food processing industries. The work can help standardize protocols for microbiological quality control and environmental monitoring and define maximum and minimum thresholds for air, water, and surfaces in microbiologically controlled facilities.

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND PROTOCOLS

Microbial samples are collected with Wet Wipes from various surfaces in Kibo. The Wet Wipes with collected samples are kept in a white tube and stored in MELFI (-95C˚) until the samples are returned to Earth for further analysis.

Intra-Module Ventilation (IMV) Fan dust samples are stored in a ziplock bag and stored at room temperature until the samples are returned to Earth.