Abstract Details
| Name: Binukumar GopalakrishnanNair Affiliation: IIA, Bengaluru Conference ID: ASI2019_343 Title : Micrometeorite collector and SAMPLE – A Method of Collection of Stratospheric Samples Using Balloon-Borne Payload Authors and Co-Authors : B.G. Nair1, Margarita Safonova2 , Ajin K. Prakash1 , Joice Mathew1 , Mayuresh Sarpotdar1 , Ambily Suresh1 , K. Nirmal1 , Jayant Murthy1, Dipshika Chakravortty3 , Annapurni Rangarajan4 , and Ramananda Chakrabarti5 1 Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560034, India, 2 M. P. Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India, 3Dept. of Microbiology, IISc, Bangalore, India, 4MRDG, IISc, Bangalore, India, 5Center for Earth Sciences, IISc, Bangalore, India Abstract Type : Poster Abstract Category : Instrumentation and Techniques Abstract : Earth’s atmosphere at stratospheric altitudes contains dust particles from soil lifted by weather, volcanic dust, man-made aerosols, IDP (Interplanetary Dust Particles) – remnants of comets and asteroids, and even interstellar dust. Satellite observations suggest that approximately 100– 300 tons of cosmic dust enter Earth’s atmosphere every day. However, very little is known about the microbial life in the upper atmosphere, where conditions are very much similar to that on Mars and possibly on some exoplanets. Stratosphere provides a good opportunity to study the existence or survival of organisms in these conditions. Despite the importance of this topic to astrobiology, stratospheric microbial diversity/survival remains largely unexplored, probably due to significant difficulties in the access and ensuring the absence of contamination of the samples. Possibility of collection of micrometeorite using balloon based stratospheric platforms is an unexplored area as well. To conduct a detailed study into this, we are developing the balloon-borne payload system SAMPLE (Stratospheric Altitude Microbiology Probe for Life Existence) to collect dust samples from stratosphere. This balloon-borne payload system will rise through the atmosphere till it reaches an altitude of about 25–30 km above sea level. The payload consists of detachable pre-sterilized sampling chambers designed to collect and contain the dust samples and get them back to the surface without contamination during the flight, a microprocessor and a controller which will determine the altitude of the payload system to actively control the opening and closing of the sample collection chambers. On retrieving the payload, the sampling chambers will be sent to a suitable laboratory where the samples will be examined for the presence of biological matter and micrometeorites. |