BIOSTRAT—Development of a Research Capsule to Carry Out Astrobiological Experiments and Testing in a “Near Space” Environment in the Stratosphere

Abstract

Stratospheric missions are much more accessible than space to test technologies and scientific experimentation but still preparations before the flight require complex and long-term activities very often including testing in the professional laboratories. The construction of the capsule is based on multiple subsystems such as board computers, sensors, mechanical and thermal protection, power supply and customized platform for desired experimentation, which very often exceeds knowledge and experience of a single researcher. On the other hand, a multidisciplinary team requires complex management and control, not to mention time consumption. Thus, to obey the above problems, we decided to develop a universal research capsule to perform multiple astrobiological experiments in the near-space environment. The main goal was to create a construction easy to handle and easy to repair or gently modify if needed. The project we describe is the construction of a lab-on-chip device adapted to the near-space environment in the stratosphere including vacuum, negative temperatures, high UV radiation and cosmic radiation, which enables us to carry out a number of research projects related to astrobiology in the future.