Exposed To Space And Back On Earth | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.14.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.16.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.17.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Sun, Jul 10, 2016

Exposed To Space And Back On Earth

Experiment Returned To Earth Aboard Soyuz Capsule Bringing Astronauts Home

In the excitement of watching Tim Peake, Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra land on Earth on 18 June after 186 days in space, all attention was focused on the astronauts and their bumpy ride.

But also hitching a ride in the Soyuz capsule were 46 species of small organisms and more than 150 organic compounds. Their voyage was even more intense than the astronaut trio’s – these samples spent 18 months in space, bolted to the outside of the International Space Station.

This ‘Expose-R2’ is a miniature photochemistry laboratory that exposes samples to the harsh environment of space. Subjected to the full blast of the Sun’s energy as well as vacuum, radiation and temperature swings, they are helping researchers investigating how chemicals and microbiological life react to unprotected spaceflight – on a comet, for example. Previous Expose experiments have already shown that ‘water bears’ and a species of lichen can survive a trip into space.

Expose-R2 was returned inside the Station by Yuri Malenchenko and Sergei Volkov during a spacewalk on 3 February and stored ahead of return to Earth. The samples were held in sealed compartments and covered to block out all light.

With the samples having travelled around the world more than 8500 times, researchers are now eager to see how they have endured their trip.

Once the astronauts were safely outside, the trays were retrieved quickly to protect them from the heat of the Sun at the landing site, and a temperature-logger began monitoring them.

The samples arrived at ESA’s Moscow office on 19 June ahead of travelling to Munich, Germany. From there, they were carried to the DLR German Aerospace Center in Cologne, Germany, where they were removed from their containers. Most have now been distributed to the 30 researchers from 11 laboratories in the Netherlands, Italy, France and USA, who are eager to probe how they have reacted to living in space.

A ground-based set of control samples will continue running for another two months, subjected to much the same conditions as their counterparts in space but without the cosmic radiation and weightlessness, which are unique to the Space Station.

The scientists will convene in November to discuss the initial results.

ESA has a long history of ‘exposure’ experiments. This third sortie for Expose is the last for now, but many new research proposals have been submitted for review to continue exploring the limits of life in our Solar System and how spaceflight can change organic chemicals.

(Image provided with ESA news release)

FMI: www.esa.int

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.15.25): Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach

Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach An approach conducted while operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan which authorizes the pilot of an aircraft to proceed >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (07.15.25)

“When l became the Secretary of Defense, I committed to rebuild our military to match threats to capabilities. Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.15.25)

Aero Linx: Stearman Restorers Association Welcome to the Stearman Restorers Association. The Stearman Restorers Association is an independent “Not for Profit” 501C-3 Co>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Kjelsrud Gary Kitfox

Airplane Exhibited A Partial Loss Of Engine Power When It Was About Halfway Down The Runway Analysis: The pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane was departing from his pr>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Cessna A150L

The Flight Path Was Consistent With Low-Altitude Maneuvering On June 18, 2025, about 0922 mountain standard time, a Cessna A150L airplane, N6436F, was substantially damaged when it>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC