TY  - GEN
A1  - de Vera, Jean-Pierre Paul
A1  - Alawi, Mashal
A1  - Backhaus, Theresa
A1  - Baque, Mickael
A1  - Billi, Daniela
A1  - Boettger, Ute
A1  - Berger, Thomas
A1  - Bohmeier, Maria
A1  - Cockell, Charles
A1  - Demets, Rene
A1  - de la Torre Noetzel, Rosa
A1  - Edwards, Howell
A1  - Elsaesser, Andreas
A1  - Fagliarone, Claudia
A1  - Fiedler, Annelie
A1  - Foing, Bernard
A1  - Foucher, Frederic
A1  - Fritz, Jörg
A1  - Hanke, Franziska
A1  - Herzog, Thomas
A1  - Horneck, Gerda
A1  - Hübers, Heinz-Wilhelm
A1  - Huwe, Björn
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin Radha
A1  - Kozyrovska, Natalia
A1  - Kruchten, Martha
A1  - Lasch, Peter
A1  - Lee, Natuschka
A1  - Leuko, Stefan
A1  - Leya, Thomas
A1  - Lorek, Andreas
A1  - Martinez-Frias, Jesus
A1  - Meessen, Joachim
A1  - Moritz, Sophie
A1  - Moeller, Ralf
A1  - Olsson-Francis, Karen
A1  - Onofri, Silvano
A1  - Ott, Sieglinde
A1  - Pacelli, Claudia
A1  - Podolich, Olga
A1  - Rabbow, Elke
A1  - Reitz, Günther
A1  - Rettberg, Petra
A1  - Reva, Oleg
A1  - Rothschild, Lynn
A1  - Garcia Sancho, Leo
A1  - Schulze-Makuch, Dirk
A1  - Selbmann, Laura
A1  - Serrano, Paloma
A1  - Szewzyk, Ulrich
A1  - Verseux, Cyprien
A1  - Wadsworth, Jennifer
A1  - Wagner, Dirk
A1  - Westall, Frances
A1  - Wolter, David
A1  - Zucconi, Laura
T1  - Limits of life and the habitability of Mars
BT  - the ESA space experiment BIOMEX on the ISS
T2  - Astrobiology
N2  - BIOMEX (BIOlogy and Mars EXperiment) is an ESA/Roscosmos space exposure experiment housed within the exposure facility EXPOSE-R2 outside the Zvezda module on the International Space Station (ISS). The design of the multiuser facility supports-among others-the BIOMEX investigations into the stability and level of degradation of space-exposed biosignatures such as pigments, secondary metabolites, and cell surfaces in contact with a terrestrial and Mars analog mineral environment. In parallel, analysis on the viability of the investigated organisms has provided relevant data for evaluation of the habitability of Mars, for the limits of life, and for the likelihood of an interplanetary transfer of life (theory of lithopanspermia). In this project, lichens, archaea, bacteria, cyanobacteria, snow/permafrost algae, meristematic black fungi, and bryophytes from alpine and polar habitats were embedded, grown, and cultured on a mixture of martian and lunar regolith analogs or other terrestrial minerals. The organisms and regolith analogs and terrestrial mineral mixtures were then exposed to space and to simulated Mars-like conditions by way of the EXPOSE-R2 facility. In this special issue, we present the first set of data obtained in reference to our investigation into the habitability of Mars and limits of life. This project was initiated and implemented by the BIOMEX group, an international and interdisciplinary consortium of 30 institutes in 12 countries on 3 continents. Preflight tests for sample selection, results from ground-based simulation experiments, and the space experiments themselves are presented and include a complete overview of the scientific processes required for this space experiment and postflight analysis. The presented BIOMEX concept could be scaled up to future exposure experiments on the Moon and will serve as a pretest in low Earth orbit.
KW  - EXPOSE-R2
KW  - BIOMEX
KW  - Habitability
KW  - Limits of life
KW  - Extremophiles
KW  - Mars
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2018.1897
SN  - 1531-1074
SN  - 1557-8070
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
SP  - 145
EP  - 157
PB  - Liebert
CY  - New Rochelle
ER  -