[MicrobeIV]
"Microbe" : Microbiological monitoring in the International Space Station - KIBO

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

• To monitor microbial populations aboard ISS, it is necessary to maintain the health of the crew members. Passive sampling and analysis on the ground clarifies the type, and number, of microbes in the KIBO module. Particle count data gives the real time status of air purity in the KIBO module.
• Continuous monitoring from the Microbe-I experiments provides microbial information about the KIBO module, and enables the prediction of future microbial circumstance populations in the KIBO module.
• Results from this experiment provide further insight into the risk of microbial populations to crew members aboard the ISS.

DESCRIPTION

In the JAXA KIBO Utilization scenario, studies on the relationship between human and microbes in space habitation environments are critical for success in long-duration missions. In respect to human health, the importance of microbiological monitoring is extremely important for long-duration missions. In this investigation, the major focus is on indoor environmental quality control, specifically studies on environmental microbiology in space (astromicrobiological studies), in order to reduce potential hazards for the crew and the spacecraft infrastructure. Progress is made in these astrobiological studies based on past, and current, collaborative studies with JAXA. The continuing expansion of the on-going microbiological monitoring in the KIBO module, the project named “Microbe-I/II/III”, data is being collected on microbial dynamics in the habitable spacecraft environment. Collected data on these microbial communities aboard the ISS is shared with NASA, ESA, and JAXA.

SPACE APPLICATIONS

Results from the Microbe-IV investigation provide insight into the microbial environment on the ISS. Microbes that can cause illness could present problems for current and future long-duration space missions. Understanding which microbe communities thrive in space habitats, known as astromicrobiology, could help researchers design antimicrobial technology.

EARTH APPLICATIONS

The sampling devices used for Microbe-IV could also be used on Earth. Procedures for monitoring and counting microbe populations could enable new microbe control standards for the pharmaceutical and food processing industries.

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND PROTOCOLS

Passive sampling items, "White Tube", "Microbial Detection Sheet", "Air Filter", and "Sampling Sheet" are recovered on Earth at frozen storage temperature. Particle data taken by "Particle Counter" should be downlinked through Experiment Laptop Computer-2 (ELT-2).