USA/ Prof. Szuszkiewicz: we are ready to prepare the second set of our experiment for orbit

Yeast can wait to travel into space, but only for 45 days, said Prof. Ewa Szuszkiewicz, head of one of the experiments that is to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Ax-4 mission. She added that if necessary, her team will prepare a second or even third set of microorganisms for research.

"Yeast TardigradeGene" is one of 13 experiments as part of the Polish technological and scientific mission IGNIS to the International Space Station (ISS). It will be conducted by Dr. Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a Polish project astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA).

On Saturday, NASA and Axiom Space said the Axiom 4 mission will not launch until June 19 at the earliest; the launch window is open until June 30. Further delays could affect experiments, especially biological ones.

As part of the "Yeast TardigradeGene" project, scientists want to investigate the effects of microgravity on yeast. The research used yeast enriched with a protein from exceptionally resistant creatures – tardigrades.

"The yeast was inoculated in a container designated for the experiment, the so-called cube (from English cube – note by PAP) almost three weeks ago. On May 25, we put them in a nutrient medium in the laboratory of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and packed everything for the journey. On May 26, the yeast with the tardigrade protein set off for the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at Cape Canaveral, arriving there on June 3," reported Prof. Ewa Szuszkiewicz, an astrophysicist and astrobiologist from the University of Szczecin and a member of the Space and Satellite Research Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

She added that the biological material was transported in refrigerated conditions – the temperature in the container must be between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius: "These conditions are necessary to prevent the yeast from developing prematurely. So they are dormant, waiting for the flight into orbit and the right moment to start reproducing. We received a report on the temperature during transport, which shows that it was stably maintained at around 5 degrees Celsius."

The container with yeast is stored in the KSC under the same conditions. From the moment the experiment is prepared and packaged, there is no way to check what is happening in the container. "You can't look into it, because the yeast must be transported not only at the right temperature, but also in darkness. The labels on the cube warn against opening it," the scientist explained.

She admitted that she and her team are watching any further postponements of the mission launch with some concern. "The yeast can wait patiently for the journey into space, but not forever. They have been prepared in such a way that they can be launched into orbit no later than early July. The waiting time should be a maximum of 45 days from the moment of inoculation," she said.

The calculations also include several to several dozen hours before the cube reaches the ISS from Earth; sometimes it takes several hours to dock, and another few hours before the capsule crew can board the station. In total, the space journey of astronauts and yeast from Earth to the International Space Station could take up to two days.

"We have included all of this in our puzzle. But even if there is no signal regarding a new launch date, at the end of June we will have to prepare another payload (i.e. the experiment load)," explained Prof. Szuszkiewicz.

Usually, the launch date of a space mission is announced two days in advance. However, this is not enough time for scientists to inoculate a new colony of modified yeast in the second container and deliver it to KSC. "We need seven days to prepare the container with yeast; if we hurry, six will be enough. On the other hand, the cube with our experiment recently traveled from Poland to Florida for about 10 days, and according to the arrangements, it should be at the Kennedy Center 14 days before the launch. All this greatly extends the time in which our spare payload would be ready for the flight to the ISS," the researcher assessed.

She assured that the researchers are ready to start preparing a spare container at any time. Even if NASA and Axiom Space do not announce a new launch date for Ax-4 by the end of June, Prof. Szuszkiewicz's team must fill another cube with microorganisms and send it.

Scientists even have a plan C, in case the second "portion" of yeast has to wait too long for a space trip. "The second payload with yeast will also have a +validity+ of 45 days. But we only have two cubes, so if a third attempt is needed, we will have to transport only the samples to KSC and inoculate the biological material in old containers on site. Otherwise, we will not be able to prepare the third set. However, I hope that all this will not happen and that we will soon be able to watch the launch of the Ax-4 mission," concluded Prof. Szuszkiewicz.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to carry the Dragon capsule carrying the Axe-4 mission crew from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.

The Ax-4 mission crew consists of: Peggy Whitson (USA) – commander, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (Poland/ESA) – specialist, Shubhanshu Shukla (India) – pilot and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) – specialist. Dr Uznański-Wiśniewski will be the second Pole in space after Mirosław Hermaszewski.

This is the fourth commercial manned expedition carried out by the American company Axiom Space. The participation of the Pole in it is the result of an agreement signed by the Ministry of Development and Technology and the European Space Agency to prepare and conduct the Polish technological and scientific mission IGNIS to the ISS. The Polish Space Agency (POLSA) is also involved in the preparations. 13 experiments and technologies of Polish scientists and companies will be taken to the ISS.

From Cape Canaveral Anna Bugajska (PAP)

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