Simulated deep space exposure on seeds utilizing the MISSE flight facility

Jeffrey T Richards; Todd E Mortenson; Cory J Spern; Timothy A Mousseau; Jennifer L Gooden; Lashelle E Spencer; Christina L Khodadad; Jason A Fischer; Alexander D Meyers; Chad K Papenfuhs; Jeffrey G Buell; Howard G Levine; Dinah I Dimapilis; Ye Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41526-024-00451-y

Simulated deep space exposure on seeds utilizing the MISSE flight facility

NPJ Microgravity. 2025 Jan 17;11(1):3. doi: 10.1038/s41526-024-00451-y.

Authors

Jeffrey T Richards^{1

2}, Todd E Mortenson³, Cory J Spern^{1

4}, Timothy A Mousseau⁵, Jennifer L Gooden^{1

2}, Lashelle E Spencer^{1

4}, Christina L Khodadad^{1

4}, Jason A Fischer^{1

2}, Alexander D Meyers^{1

6}, Chad K Papenfuhs^{1

7}, Jeffrey G Buell⁸, Howard G Levine¹, Dinah I Dimapilis¹, Ye Zhang⁹

Affiliations

¹ NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL, USA.
² AETOS Systems Inc., LASSO II Contract, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL, USA.
³ The Bionetics Corporation, LASSO Contract, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL, USA.
⁴ Noetic Strategies, Inc., LASSO II Contract, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL, USA.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
⁶ NASA Postdoctoral Program, John F. Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL, USA.
⁷ NASA Internship Program, John F. Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL, USA.
⁸ Aegis Aerospace Inc, Houston, TX, USA.
⁹ NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, FL, USA. [email protected].

PMID: 39824863
DOI: 10.1038/s41526-024-00451-y

Abstract

The MISSE-Seed project was designed to investigate the effects of space exposure on seed quality and storage. The project tested the Multipurpose Materials International Space Station Experiment-Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) hardware as a platform for exposing biological samples to the space environment outside the International Space Station (ISS). Furthermore, it evaluated the capability of a newly designed passive sample containment canister as a suitable exposure unit for biological samples for preserving their vigor while exposing to the space environment to study multi-stressor effects. The experiment was launched to the ISS on Northrup Grumman (NG)-15. The exposure lasted eight months outside the ISS in the MISSE-FF at the Zenith position. The specimens consisted of eleven seed varieties. Temperature dataloggers and thermoluminescent dosimeters were included in each container to record environmental data. We presented here the hardware and experimental design, environmental profiles, and seed survival from post-flight germination tests.