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Space Physiology and Medicine pp 155–167Cite as

Microbiology

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Abstract

Microbes in space craft are an inevitable reality. Humans and the systems that support them will transfer bacteria, fungi, and viruses to the space craft environment. Over the past six decades, our understanding of microbiology in human space flight has increased considerably. We have gained a significant evidence-base and developed appropriate countermeasures to mitigate the deleterious effect of bacteria, fungi, and viruses during low Earth orbit space flight missions. The International Space Station (ISS) has proven to be a safe, habitable environment and is used to evaluate the microbial risk mitigation strategies needed during longer duration, exploration-class missions. As the space program moves toward exploration-class missions, it is increasingly important to minimize the risk of infectious disease in crew members and to protect the integrity of the space craft. Current and future research efforts will focus on understanding the host-microbe interactions, including changes in the human immune system as well as alterations in microbial function. This chapter reviews current knowledge of space flight microbial risks, summarizes the results from ISS and other space craft, and identifies future research, engineering, and monitoring needs to mitigate microbial risks during exploration-class missions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Drs. Douglas Botkin, Satish Mehta, and Tatyana Modlin for their scientific contributions and review of the chapter. We also thank the crew of the ISS for sample collection and processing, the ISS Program Office, and the Microbiology Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. KBRWyle, SK4, Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences, NASA/Johnson Space Center, 2400 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX, 77058, USA

    Cherie M. Oubre PhD

  2. SK4, Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences, NASA/Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX, 77058, USA

    Duane L. Pierson PhD & C. Mark Ott PhD

Authors
  1. Cherie M. Oubre PhD
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  2. Duane L. Pierson PhD
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  3. C. Mark Ott PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Duane L. Pierson PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia, USA

    Arnauld E. Nicogossian

  2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC, USA

    Richard S. Williams

  3. NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Barrington, Rhode Island, USA

    Carolyn L. Huntoon

  4. Department of Family and Community Medicine School of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Charles R. Doarn

  5. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC, USA

    James D. Polk

  6. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC, USA

    Victor S. Schneider

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Oubre, C.M., Pierson, D.L., Ott, C.M. (2016). Microbiology. In: Nicogossian, A., Williams, R., Huntoon, C., Doarn, C., Polk, J., Schneider, V. (eds) Space Physiology and Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6652-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6652-3_5

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