Test: Microbe-resistant surfaces aboard the ISS

Please do not clean

University research in space: Astronauts test microbe-resistant surfaces on the ISS

Scientist Matthias Maurer with one of the five touch arrays of the Touching Surfaces research project on the ISS Bacteria, germs, microbes – they are everywhere where people are. Even in space. Aboard a space station, they can be detrimental. Both for the health of the astronauts and for materials on board that are attacked. That is why researchers have used laser technology to change surface structures so that microorganisms feel as uncomfortable as possible on them.

“Touching Surfaces” is the name of the joint research project of Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Saarland University and University College London. Ralf Möller, head of the working group at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine and professor at the university’s Department of Natural Sciences, is in charge of the project. After years of development work in the lab, the experiment was launched into space in August 2021. Please touch

The space transporter Dragon carried a total of five touch arrays to the International Space Station ISS. These surfaces are made of copper, brass and steel with various surface finishes. They were attached at different points on board and touched by astronaut Matthias Maurer once per week – for exactly 15 weeks.

When the test fields travel back to Earth, they take microorganisms with them. “Firstly, we can find out which types of microorganisms settle on the surfaces under conditions in space,” explains Ralf Möller. The second result he is looking forward to is the effectiveness of the laser-structured surfaces in space compared to Earth. These evaluations will take place in 2022 at the H-BRS Microbiome Center, among other places.

The results of the basic research are not just important for space travel. Antimicrobial surfaces can also contribute to a more hygienic coexistence on Earth – in public transport, in hospitals or on door handles in buildings with a lot of public traffic. That’s why tests with touch arrays are currently found not only on the ISS, but also at the University Hospital in Cologne and at eleven schools throughout Germany. So it is not just about crewed flight into space. As Ralf Möller says, “Our goal is to make an overall contribution to combating problematic, i.e. multi-resistant germs.”