Developments in Microbiology
Microbes in Space
The majority of experiments on microorganisms in space were performed using earth-orbiting robotic spacecraft. Example: The Russian Foton satellites and the uropean Retrievable carrier (EURECA) (121), or human tended spacecraft, such as space shutties (106, 107) and space stations, Example: MIR and the International Space Station (ISS).
Only twice, during translunar trips of Apollo 16 and 17 in the early 1970s, were microorganisms exposed to space conditions beyond Earth’s magnetic shield. In the MEED (microbial ecology equipment device) facility and in the Biostack experiments.