Download designed by the 2007 NASA Ames Academy for Space Exploration

System for the Collection
of Atmospheric Biota (SCAB)
2007 NASA Ames Academy for Space Exploration
Introduction
Objectives
 The atmosphere presents an extreme habitat
for life. Much as tiny dust particles float in the
air around us, microorganisms can become
aerosolized and disperse into the air. A myriad
of disruptive events, including storms, volcanic
activity, meteor and comet impacts, and human
activities, may transport microorganisms into
the atmosphere.
 Microorganisms have been detected in the
atmosphere up to the lower mesosphere and
may be present at even greater altitudes.
Unfortunately, an optimal method for sampling
the middle to upper atmosphere has not
previously been developed.
 Proposed is the large-scale collection of biota
from the middle to upper atmosphere using the
System for Collection of Atmospheric Biota
(SCAB) designed by the 2007 NASA Ames
Academy for Space Exploration. The SCAB
utilizes a pressure gradient to draw air though a
filter, depositing microorganisms and other
particulate matter. Though initially designed for
utilization aboard a high atmospheric jet, the
SCAB may be deployed aboard other airplanes,
balloons, and possibly rockets.
 Development of SCAB
Patent Review Pending (NASA NTR)
Design Review Process and Production
 Utilization in the stratosphere
 Biological analyses and scientific benefit
Review of Literature
 In the early 1900’s, small samples of air were
taken on airplanes at low elevations and
sampled for microbes. In 1937, a group from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
identified sixteen bacteria and nineteen fungi in
the atmosphere over Boston from an elevation of
~460m up to 5km (Proctor and Parker 1938).
 Culture in low-nutrient media
 Genetic material isolation and
amplification; genetic sequencing and
phylogentic analysis
 Epifluorescence microscopy
 Determining the spatial and temporal
distribution of life in the atmosphere may reveal
answers to key questions about mass extinction
events, genomic dispersal and evolution, and
pathogen dispersal in the atmosphere. Also,
microbial resistance to radiation, pressure, and
temperature extremes can be studied with
organisms that can exist in the atmosphere.
 In the 1970’s, collection and detection of
bacteria and fungi in the middle mesosphere
(48-77km elevation) was performed with
rockets (Imshenetsky, Lysenko, and Kazakov
1978). Since that time, most sampling has been
conducted with balloons and airplanes at lower
altitudes.
 A recent development has been the utilization
of a collection plate which is placed into an air
stream on board a high altitude jet. Though this
system has proven useful in sampling bacteria
and fungi from 20km up, the compression of the
air stream and lack of flow to the plate’s surface
makes this system suboptimal. Dale Griffin,
Ph.D., and colleagues at the United States
Geological Survey have recently utilized a
venturi tube filter system for deployment and
collection aboard a remote controlled aircraft at
low altitude (<500m). The SCAB will be
applicable at elevations and environmental
extremes in which the USGS version is not. The
SCAB is to be engineered for optimal collection
at altitudes greater than 20km.
Development
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Venturi Tube
Pressure gradient
Filter
Motor (if deployed on a balloon)
Acknowledgements
Utilization
 We are proposing the utilization of the SCAB
on two Global Hawk aircraft recently purchased
by NASA. Science pods on the wing or fuselage
section of the aircraft may be developed to
house the SCAB, decreasing future deployment
costs.
 The SCAB may also be utilized on high
atmospheric jets, balloons, and rockets.
Adapted from http://www.kowoma.de/en/gps/additional/atmosphere.jpg
Biological Analyses
The 2007 NASA Ames Academy for Space Exploration
Dale Griffin (United States Geological Survey); for
origination of the idea and support for the project
Works Cited
Imshenetsky, A.A., Lysenko, S.V., and Kazakov, G.A. 1978. Upper boundary of the
biosphere. App. and Env. Micro. Bio. 35(1): 1-5.
Proctor, B.E., and Parker, B.W. 1938. Microbiology of the upper air. Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Department of Biology and Public Health. Contribution
#129, 1938.