Participación de Investigadores Civiles y Veterinarios Militares Españoles en el Experimento Espacial BIOMEX (Biology and Mars Experiment) con la Agencia Espacial Europea (ESA) / Participation of Spanish Civil Researches and Spanish Military Veterinarians in the BIOMEX Space Experiment (Biology and Mars Experiment) with the European Space Agency (ESA)

ABSTRACT

The BIOMEX experiment (Biology and Mars Experiment, ILSRA 2009-0834) was part of the SUBLIMAS project (acronym for "Survival of bacteria and lichens in analogues of Mars and space"), led by INTA and funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (ESP2015-69810-R). The main objective of the SUBLIMAS project is the study of the survival and degradation of extremophilic organisms (lichens among others) in space and in simulated conditions of Mars in the long term. The results of this experiment showed that, after a long period of exposure in the EXPOSE-R2 installation on the International Space Station, the Circinaria gyrosa lichen was able to recover photosynthetic activity. It is of great interest to do studies in living organisms in extreme situations, as well as the need for collaborations between different institutions to carry them out. Highlight the participation of veterinarians of the Military Health Corps among other researchers, as well as the learning generated after participating in coordinated projects. These fndings extend knowledge about the resistance of life to space conditions and contribute to the understanding of the adaptation potential of extremophilic organisms to the environmental conditions of the Martian Surface

RESUMEN

El experimento BIOMEX (Biology and Mars Experiment), ILSRA 2009-0834 formó parte del proyecto SUBLIMAS (acrónimo de "Supervivencia de bacterias y líquenes en análogos de Marte y en el espacio"), liderado por el Departamento de Observación de la Tierra del INTA-Campus de Torrejón y fnanciado por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Modalidad 1, Proyectos I+D+i del Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, orientado a los Retos de la Sociedad, referencia ESP2015-69810-R). En este proyecto participa personal del Área de Defensa Biológica (INTA-Campus La Marañosa, España) y entre el mismo dos ofciales veterinarios del Cuerpo Militar de Sanidad con la especialidad complemen-taria de Microbiología, Higiene y Sanidad ambiental. También participa el Instituto de Geociencias (IGEO-CSIC, España), el Institute of Planetary Research (DLR, Alemania), el Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS-CSIC, España) y la Umea University (Suecia)