Hariharan PK
Government Arts College Autonomous 

The near-future colonisation of Mars and the Moon warrants suitable construction materials to be prearranged. Selecting appropriate and readily available rocks, as well as obtaining a cementing medium to make the rocks feasible for 3D printing, provide obstacles that must be overcome before preparing for Martian and Lunar surface colonisation. Olivine, a mineral of significant presence, is widely distributed across the planetary surface of Mars. However, it is noteworthy that Nili Fossae, a region encompassing Noachian-aged rocks, exhibits particularly prominent accumulations of this material. A notable occurrence of a substantial olivine-rich outcrop can be observed in Ganges Chasma, which is situated on the eastern side of Valles Marineris (Linda M.V. Martel 2007). Calcium or iron carbonates were identified within a crater situated on the rim of Huygens Crater, which is situated in the Iapygia quadrangle. The excavation of material resulting from the impact event that formed Huygens has led to the exposure of rim materials (NASA JPL 2011). The calcium carbonate may be used as a raw material for cement. The terrestrial analogue of the olivine mineral is collected from the ultramafic complex of Chalk Hills, Salem, Tamil Nadu. The monomineralic rock Dunite is pulverised in a jaw crusher and sieved using a mechanical sieve shaker. Two different types of cement are intended for making cubical blocks of 4 cm in size. Pulverised sedimentary Marly lime stones were collected from sedimentary deposits in Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, which may be an analogue of the sedimentary sequence reported from Gale crater. The pulverised and sieved fractions are mixed in equal proportions to use it as cement. Heated marly lime stones (calcined lime) resembling a possible cement we can prepare from CaCO3 under the effects of an ionising radiation dose at a minimum power of absorbed radiation equal to 0.5 Mrad/s (United States Paten 3,940,324) The calcined lime is used as the binding material of olivine for making 4 cm3 blocks. The blocks are made with olivine (dunite) and limestone powder in five different proportions ranging from 50:50 to 90:10. Similar proportions are maintained for the
olivine and calcined lime mixtures.

With the possibility of microbial-induced calcite precipitation (Rashmi Dikshit et al., 2021), taking up a limestone medium as a binder for Lunar soil will enhance the possibility of building a robust structure. Lunar analogue soil is made from the anorthosite rocks from the Sittampundi anorthosite complex, located in South India (Venugopal et al., 2020). The anorthosite is
pulverised and sieved using a mechanical sieve shaker. Eleven different size fractions are separated, viz., ASTM 230+, ASTM 230, ASTM 180, etc. The different size fractions are taken in equal proportions and thoroughly mixed with marly limestone powder in different ratios, like 50:50 to 90:10. After 14 days of curing and drying under nominal atmospheric conditions, the blocks will be treated in liquid nitrogen and Thermovac lab to simulate temperature
and pressure variations in space before being tested for engineering properties.

Popowska Karolina
Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering

Machine diagnostics is a broad engineering field aimed at increasing lifetimeof the machinery and thus a probability of completing the tasks planned. Diagnostics covers actions such as health monitoring and early fault diagnosis of machines, and
service operations 1. In what means machine diagnostics may contribute to increasing a probability of completing space missions? The success of a space mission depends primarily on a properly operating machine 2,3 . There are many machine diagnostics methods depending on a type of physical quantity being measured and therefore many kinds of objects being a source of the diagnostic information 4,5 . An example of such an object is magnetic encoder ring used for measuring rotational motion parameters, including a rotational speed. The measurement of rotational movement parameters is used in every moving rotating element, including space vehicle’s wheels and robotic arms. Composite made of steel and rubber-ferritic conglomerate, which, if properly magnetized, can act as an encoder for reading the parameter of angular displacement, speed, or acceleration. Based on experimental research 5 a novel diagnostic method for magnetic encoder rings was proposed, thanks to which it is possible to track the progressing degradation associated with the influence of the magnetic field, temperature, and even mechanical abrasion. Machine diagnostics can increase the probability of completing of a given mission thanks to early faults detection, and consequently prevention of further machine components progressive failures. Especially, the discussed case of encoder ring applies for missions where rotating machinery elements are the main and essential components for the whole system.

Ray Aditya
Presidency University 

The study outlines a multidisciplinary investigation into Martian geology with a specialized focus on biosignatures and deciphering potential markers of past life on
the Red Planet. By observing the geological and chemical properties of the Deccan Volcanics in India as an analogue, critical parallels between terrestrial and Martian environments are illuminated. Beginning with a foundational understanding of Martian geology, nuanced evaluation of biosignatures, encompassing both geological and chemical indicators are explored. Compelling evidence of microbial
life and its resilience within volcanic rocks underscores the importance of reexamination of the habitability of Martian terrains. The presence of jarosite and Subsurface Filamentous Fabrics(SSF) in the Deccan Volcanics and on Mars not only underscores their shared geological lineage but also unveils a promising avenue for biosignature exploration. Substantive biosignatures within the Deccan volcanics suggest the potential for ancient microbial activity on Mars. These discoveries hold far-reaching implications, substantially bolstering the case for the existence of life in Mars’ distant past. The incorporation of a novel sulfur isotope in probing approach augments biosignature discernment and fortifies our ability to differentiate genuine markers from potential false positives. In conclusion, this study reviews the potential of finding biosignatures in Martian volcanic terrains, from analog study of India’s Deccan Volcanics on Earth. By refining landing site selection methodologies and optimizing payload configurations, a robust foundation for future missions is proposed to unlock further secrets of Martian life.

Smith Kayla
Central State University

Standard notions of an “Earthlike” planet rely solely on physical and material properties, like planetary mass, radius, and surface temperature. Here, we introduce a novel, relational perspective on what defines “Earthlikeness.” In our process-based framework, rocky planets are local pockets of free energy that have the potential to drive the emergence of dynamically persistent systems that coevolve with one another. Examples of dynamically persistent planetary phenomena include magnetic dynamos, mantle convection, tectonic regimes, deep volatile cycles, global climate feedbacks, biogeochemical cycles, and the biosphere. When two or more processes couple to one another such that they gain causal efficacy over one another’s persistence, some degree of planetary-scale homeostasis may emerge. In astrobiology, Earthlike exoplanets are often considered to be priority targets for the search for life elsewhere. We suggest that a process-based framework for Earthlikeness has the potential to widen our search space and inspire novel planetary- scale biosignatures, or “Gaiasignatures,” that may be essential for detecting exoplanetary biospheres. Additionally, a process-based view of life can influence the development of agnostic biosignatures at all scales. In contrast to the dominant scientific perspective, which has tended to engender a materialistic worldview, relational ontologies may contribute to our scientific understanding of Earth as a network of dynamically persistent systems, humanity as an integral part of nature, and the search for life in the universe.

Krakowiak Michalina
Doctoral School of Natural Sciences, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
Department of Molecular Virology, Institute of Experimental Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

Tardigrada (water bears) are a group of small invertebrates inhabiting nearly all Earth ecosystems [1], of which approximately 1,500 species have been described so far [2] . Tardigrades are able to undergo anhydrobiosis, characterized by almost complete loss of body water, multiple times at any stage of their life. This state allows to survive not only the lack of environmental water, but also very low or very high temperatures, high doses of radiation, extremely high or low pressure, or even cosmic vacuum [3,4,5]. Thus, tardigrades are considered as extremotolerant organisms which can be studied in outer space environment. Although anhydrobiosis survival has been studied on multiple tardigrade species, usually the survival rate after only one cycle of desiccation-rehydration has been analyzed [e.g. 6,7,8]. To broaden the knowledge of tardigrades’ ability to survive anhydrobiosis, we present the preliminary study on two tardigrade species: Paramacrobiotus gadabouti [9] , whose anhydrobiosis survival has not yet been studied, and Pam. experimentalis [10]

The animals have been subjected to short (7 days) or long (30 days) anhydrobiosis, repeated 1 to 3 times in a desiccation-rehydration procedure. The survival rate, as well as the time of return to full activity after anhydrobiosis, was compared between the studied groups. It was possible to observe the contribution of desiccated state longevity, as well as, the number of anhydrobiosis cycles, to the survival of both studied species. These results might be used in future projects design, where studied groups with particular survival rates of anhydrobiosis are required, e.g. in astrobiology-related projects with multiple desiccation-rehydration episodes.

The study has been financed by the National Science Centre grant PRELUDIUM no. 2022/45/N/NZ8/00816.

Francisco Ismael Román Moreno

In Astrobiology, the concept of life is essential since it determines the objectives of the experiments to search for molecules, biosignatures or biomarkers that verify the presence of life. For this reason, it is vital to redefine the concept of life and for this the viruses that have always raised a controversy play a fundamental role since they allow us to redefine and expand the concept of life. In this way, viruses are a key and novel key to the search for life in other environments of the universe. We are going to focus on the large nucleocytoplasmic DNA viruses (NCLDV) of eukaryotes (proposed order “Megavirales” belonging to the class Megaviricetes) that comprise a large group of viruses formed by the families Poxviridae, Asfarviridae, Iridoviridae, Asfarviridae, Asfarviridae and Iridoviridae, Asfarviridae, Iridoviridae, Ascoviridae, Phycodnaviridae, Marseilleviridae, Pithoviridae, and Mimiviridae, as well as Pandoraviruses, Molliviruses, and Faustoviruses. All of these viruses have double-stranded DNA genomes ranging in size from about 100 kilobases (kb) to more than 2.5 megabases. NCLDVs can be defined as a monophyletic group due to the presence of about 40 genes that can be traced back to their last common ancestor (Koonin & Yutin, 2019). One of the major implications of viruses is horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT is the movement of genetic material between unicellular and/or multicellular organisms. This movement has proven to be an important factor in the evolution of many organisms. This horizontal gene transfer usually involves virus, plasmids and transposons (Nasir & Caetano-Anollés, 2015). Viruses are generally considered to lack the fundamental properties of living organisms, as they do not harbor an energy metabolism system or protein synthesis machinery. However, the discovery of giant viruses has challenged this view due to the encoding enzymatic machinery for some steps of protein synthesis. Numerous metabolic genes involved in energy production have recently been detected in giant virus genomes. The remarkable diversity of metabolic genes described in giant viruses includes genes encoding enzymes involved in glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, photosynthesis and β-oxidation (Brahim-Belhaouari et al., 2022).

One of the proposed mechanisms by which NCLDVs possess these viruses is host gene acquisition – called viral homologs or “virologs”. Unraveling the functions of virologs during infection, as well as the evolutionary pathways through which viruses acquire these gene repertoires is of great interest in gaining insight into viral origins (Moniruzzaman et al., 2023). As giant viruses encode multiple proteins that are universal among cellular life forms attempts have been made to incorporate these viruses into the evolutionary tree of cellular life by constituting a fourth domain (Koonin & Yutin, 2019).

In addition, NCLDVs have a peculiarity in that they contain virophages. Virophages are small double-stranded DNA viral phages that require co-infection of the giant virus it infects. Virophages depend on the viral replication factory of the giant virus for their own replication (Pearson, 2008). The first virophage was discovered in a Paris cooling tower in 2008. It was discovered with its co-infecting giant virus, Acanthamoeba castellanii Mamavirus (ACMV). The virophage was named Sputnik and its replication was entirely dependent on co-infection with ACMV (La Scola et al., 2008). Sputnik is deleterious to APMV and results in the production of abortive forms and abnormal assembly of the giant virus capsid. Thus, virophage may enhance host recovery and survival (Mougari et al., 2019). On the other hand, NCLDVs could be responsible for eukaryotic cell formation. Viral eukaryogenesis is the hypothesis proposed by Philip Bell in 2001 on the basis that the cell nucleus of eukaryotic life forms evolved from a large DNA virus in a form of endosymbiosis within a methanogenic archaeon or bacterium (Guglielmini et al., 2019). Thus, evolutionary reconstructions corroborate that NCLDVs evolved from smaller, simpler viruses, such as adenoviruses, and ultimately derive all of these viruses from tailless bacteriophages (Koonin & Yutin, 2019).

Finally, we can say that living things appeared at the very moment when nucleic acids with coding properties became encapsidated. The origin of proteins capable of assembling giving rise to protocapsids allowed the individualization of biological systems, i.e., they gave way to the formation of living beings or organisms. This event led to the origin of viruses and, subsequently, to the origin of cells. This positions viruses as living biotic entities and precursors of cell formation (Prosdocimi & Torres, 2021; Prosdocimi & Torres, 2023).

Rybacki Bartosz
Gdańsk University of Technology

To propel scientific progress, facilitate space exploration, and harness the resultant knowledge for the betterment of life on Earth, as humanity and the scientific community, we are obliged to undertake these upcoming fields of science such as space biosciences research more realistic by creating infrastructural frameworks that enable the conduction of experiments within this burgeoning fields. One of the ways to accomplish that is to conduct scientific research in the domain of space biotech under suborbital rocket flight conditions. The answer to this is the AMBER project (Autonomous Modular Biotechnological Experiment on a Rocket) in
the form of a 3U CubeSat, aboard which we have conducted two studies in this area. The project’s first iteration was used to study the effect of the suborbital rocket environment on the ability of selected bacterial strains to produce biofilm and its durability. The second was to check enzymatic activity for the real-time reaction of enzyme-substrate coupled systems. Each type of research implied the need to develop technological solutions that made the experiments possible. We extended our research to include the impact of a simulated microgravity state using a Rotating Wall Vessel (RWV), as well as radiation using facilities and NASA Ames Research Center mentoring.

When talking about the future, the human presence in space has to be considered in terms of medium- to long-term exposure to microgravity and elevated radiation conditions. Therefore, to better understand the effects of these factors not only on humans but also on the basic biological processes known from laboratories on the Earth’s surface, it is necessary to carry out research over a longer period of time. The ideal bridge between research in drop-towers and sounding rockets and research on the ISS is to conduct experiments aboard suborbital rockets. This makes it possible to test not only the experimental assumptions but also the hardware before carrying out a much more costly mission to the ISS or another object orbiting the Earth or beyond. That is why, with the development of the AMBER project, we began a 3rd iteration of the AstroGen Research Group activity. In this endeavor, we are designing a mini-bioreactor capable of carrying out bioproduction processes that lead to the creation of enzymes, biopharmaceuticals, or deferring components under space conditions but also can serve as a test system for R&D in the biotechnology industry.

Jurczyński Dawid
Silesian University of Technology

Space for everyone? The belief that it’s only for a select few is mistaken. I will demonstrate how I utilized publicly available data obtained through Sentinel missions. I will show how each of you can harness the potential of satellites to measure carbon monoxide levels in hard-to-reach areas and how to correlate ground data with satellite data. All of this, of course, with a touch of machine learning. During the presentation, a deep analysis of the scaling process of carbon monoxide measurements obtained from the Sentinel-5P satellite will be presented. The main goal is to accurately reflect these measurements on the Earth’s surface. By using tools such as the Emissions API and the Open Weather Map API, advanced interpolation methods designed for maximum accuracy will be discussed. Presentation attendees will gain insight into various tests based on specific geographic points and days of the year. A key point of the presentation will be comparing traditional mathematical formulas with modern artificial intelligence algorithms, highlighting the potential of the latter in increasing measurement accuracy.

Johnsen Tim
University of California Irvine

Space robotics are under development to autonomously explore, observe, and even construct, on extraterrestrial surfaces for improved scientific yield without the need for excessive human interaction. Two core challenges for such robotics are: (1) corrupted sensor observations in the form of low signal-to-noise ratios and missing data, and (2) limited energy consumption in the form of constrained battery life and available power. Firstly, presented are methods for mitigating corruption in the form of both noisy (Gaussian distributed) and missing (Bernoulli distributed) observations taken from the field, along with methods for quantifying uncertainty in those observations. This is accomplished with a denoising autoencoder neural network [1] and Monte Carlo dropout [2]. Provided is an application of self guided field labs under development to autonomously observe evapotranspiration systems on Earth, as equipped with a multimodal sensor array. Secondly, presented are methods for decreasing the resource footprint of machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whose high time and power expenditure otherwise clash with limited energy reservoirs available to space robotics. This is accomplished with dynamic slimmable neural networks [3] that adapt model complexity, and accordingly energy consumption, to both environmental context and mission progress. Provided is an application of autonomous microdrones to autonomously navigate increasingly complex terrains, as equipped with a multimodal sensor array. Ultimately, solutions to these challenges improve efficiency to better explore the unknown universe.

Chowaniec Karolina
Skubała Kaja
Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany

Biological soil crust (BSC) was described as the “living skin” on the soil surface that occurs in many water-limited ecosystems around the world [1]. BSCs create miniature ecosystems that consist highly specialised communities of different interacting organisms. BSCs consist of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, and various microorganisms and are found in arid areas around the world that cover ca 12% of the global land area. In these extreme environments, BSCs are exposed to long periods of desiccation, UV radiation, and shortage of nutrients and resources [2]. To cope with harsh conditions the organisms that make up the BSC must have developed mechanisms that allow them to survive in extreme conditions such as extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that help them to retain water, UV-protecting pigments such as scytonemin and melanin or specific compounds including sucrose and trehalose that minimise metabolic desiccation stress [3]. Despite unfavorable conditions, the succsssion of BSC progress. The first colonisers of bare substrate are cyanobacteria and green algae that facilitate succession to later stages due to their ability to improve the surface microhabitat, while lichens and mosses emerge later [4]. Along with the succession the biomass of different organisms and their activity change. We examined overall microbial activity expressed by dehydrogenase activity (DHA) in BSCs developed at different succession stages at inland shifting sands in the Błędowska Desert (Poland). Our study revealed significant increase of DHA along with succession. This phenomenon is certainly associated with the increase of organic matter, which promote greater microbial biomass since organic matter provides energy for microbial growth and enzyme production. The studies on BSC development may provide valuable insights into understanding the evolution of life and the habitability beyond Earth. The organisms forming BSC might be suitable candidates for testing their vitality in outer Space or under Martian conditions.

Lee Mijin
Max Plank Institute for Astronomy

The aqueous chemistry occurring within carbonaceous planetesimals holds great promise for the synthesis of prebiotic organic matter, a fundamental building block for life as we know it. Recent studies propose a significant role for meteorites from these planetesimals in delivering crucial prebiotic material that potentially facilitates the origins of life to the early Earth. Vitamin B3 serves as a precursor to essential coenzymes, namely NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) and NADP+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate). These coenzymes, NAD+/NADH and NADP+/NADPH, are of paramount importance in modern life. Vitamin B3, an organic molecule essential for all life, exists in two forms: nicotinic acid (niacin) and nicotinamide (niacinamide). These two forms have been identified in carbonaceous chondrites.1,2 In their experiments, Cleaves & Miller demonstrated the synthesis of nicotinic acid by combining aspartic acid with glyceraldehyde.3 The favored mechanism for amino acid formation is the Strecker synthesis,4 and sugars are easily formed via the Formose reaction,5 and both are believed to operate inside planetesimals. Based on this, we propose a new reaction mechanism, explaining the synthesis of vitamin B3 (Figure 1). This study6 utilizes an up-to-date thermochemical equilibrium model, combined with a 1D thermodynamic planetesimal model, to calculate the vitamin B3 concentrations (Figure 2). We discuss the possibilities of chemical decomposition
and preservation of vitamin B3 (nicotinamide and nicotinic acid). Our results suggest that an “RNA-and-proteins-side-by-side world” could have potentially formed within meteorite parent bodies and subsequently been delivered to the early Earth.

Kossakowski Aleksander
Laboratory of Fungal Bioinformatics at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences

Investigating evolutionary trajectories and biochemical functionalities across diverse life forms necessitates precise detection of distant homologies in protein sequences, a task where traditional methods fall short.

This presentation underscores the efficacy of homology detection, utilizing profile Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and sequence databases for nuanced HMM profile and alignments construction. Case studies highlight one of the state-of-the-art toolset, HH-sute3, proficiency in uncovering obscure phylogenetic relationships and inferring functions from distant homologies. The integration of sequence feature screening further can lead to improved detection precision, with potential implications for identifying extraterrestrial protein homologies, extending biochemical comprehension beyond terrestrial confines. Furthermore, the anticipated role of artificial intelligence in bioinformatics suggests a future with enhanced predictive capabilities for understanding protein configurations, potentially revolutionizing terrestrial and extraterrestrial biological research.

Carla Alejandre Villalobos
Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), CSIC-INTA, Spain

Life appeared on Earth around 3.800 million years ago, not long after our planet became habitable. The hypothesis of the primordial soup describes a very young planet in which prebiotic chemistry could have progressively increased the available molecular complexity in several out-of-equilibrium environments such as surface lakes, sea coasts, water-mineral interfaces, oceanic hydrothermal vents, etc. In some of those scenarios, the accumulation of organic compounds and the availability of energetic sources laid the foundations for the emergence of life. One of the most widely accepted hypotheses related to the origin of life, substantially supported by experimental data, is the RNA world. As is well known, it suggests that life was originated in an environment in which informational and functional RNA molecules were able to self-replicate (through the activity of RNA ribozymes) and
perform catalytic functions. Later evolution of these primordial RNA populations would give rise to the decoupling of genotype and phenotype in the RNA/protein and DNA/RNA/protein worlds [1]. However, the sophisticated machinery associated with current RNA polymerase enzymes could not emerge randomly from those initial organic compounds that were available in the stage of prebiotic chemistry. Instead, a step-wise, ligation-based modular evolution of short RNA sequences seems a more plausible pathway for the appearance of the first RNA molecules with enzymatic properties [2]. Nevertheless, even modular evolution of RNA requires the presence of an up-to-now unknown replicative mechanism to guarantee the availability of copies of specific RNA sequences (oligoribonucleotides) in which selection can act. In this work we describe the development of a computational model to simulate the polymerization of single ribonucleotides and a subsequent non-enzymatic, template- dependent replication mechanism for the primordial RNA molecules. These processes would have arisen in a confined space such as the interphase between an aqueous solution and the interlayers of clay minerals, an environment known to favor RNA polymerization [3, 4]. In our simulations, two RNA polymerization processes are described: (i) surface-dependent, random polymerization of ribonucleotides, and (ii) template-dependent polymerization thanks to RNA complementary base pairing (RNA replication). This conceptually simple in silico model allows us to test how environmental conditions can affect the length and fidelity of RNA copies, as well as
to study how the efficiency of the RNA replicative phenomenology depends on the parameters of the system, such as the amount of available ribonucleotides, size of genetic alphabet, the strength of chemical bonds or environmental fluctuations. Our results point towards oscillatory environments as a necessary requirement for the formation of efficient copies of long enough RNA sequences, in agreement with recent works in the field that suggest that fluctuating environments where necessary for life to emerge [5]. Finally, we have developed a very promising analytical framework that supports our main results.

Bartylak Magdalena

Research sounding rockets provide an unique opportunity to study adaptations of invertebrate animals to extreme conditions, by enabling their exposure to multiple severe stressors at the same time. Organisms with the highest chance of survival in such harsh environments are called extremophiles. Tardigrades (water bears) are one of such group of microscopic animals, commonly used as models for astrobiological studies, due to their extreme abilities to cope with various environmental stresses (e.g. Guidetti et al. 2012; Kaczmarek et al. 2019) . Thanks to their exceptional cryptobiotic capabilities, they have been recorded as enduring a wide variety of extreme conditions, including both high and low temperatures and pressures, various types of radiation, as well as exposure to various chemical compounds (e.g. Clegg 2001; Guidetti et al. 2012; McGill et al. 2015) . The most common and well-studied form of cryptobiosis is anhydrobiosis, which allows tardigrades to survive without liquid water (e.g. Rebecchi et al. 2007; Wełnicz et al. 2011).

In this study we used eutardigrade species Paramacrobiotus experimentalis Kaczmarek, Mioduchowska, Poprawa & Roszkowska, 2020 from Madagascar. Specimens of this species were introduced into the state of anhydrobiosis, using the standard anhydrobiosis protocol (Roszkowska et al. 2021) and loaded into the sounding rocket as biological payload. The presented data is made up of the results from two different groups: one equipped with a radiation shield and the other lacking it. This has allowed a comparison between specimens shielded from radiation and those fully exposed to it, experiencing radiation of a magnitude of 12 Sv/h. Preliminary results have found that specimens from both groups have survived
the launch and were subsequently successfully recovered.

Kulig Aleksandra
Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie

Desire to explore and colonise worlds beyond our own drives the expansion of space industry. In the recent years we are experiencing a rapid advancement in this field. However, the progress is still hampered by numerous unresolved issues. The vast remoteness of potentially habitable locations is one of the most significant obstacles. Lack of reliable logistic connection with the Earth forces potential colonies to be self- sustainable from the very initial stage of their development. Another great difficulty is the difference between the conditions on our planet and the distant worlds we want to claim. In most cases, they lack vital resources such as water and oxygen and the gravity, pressure and radiation are making them inhospitable. Introduction of life to these environments requires organisms with exceptional adaptations. Luckily, our planet already contains multitude of possible candidates for this task. One of the promising groups are algae, which are known to thrive in difficult conditions. Thanks to the autotrophy, they are able to synthesize most of the substances they require to survive. They are small, fast to grow and reproduce, and their diversity is enormous. For many of them, we already found numerous applications in biotechnology. In space, they can be used to provide oxygen, nutrition, biopolymers and pharmaceuticals. In photobioreactors and photosynthetic panels then can become a sustainable source of biofuels and biomass. In this study we present and summarise the research on algae and their relevance to the space industry.