Space Capsule Recovery Experiment II

Objectives

Design

• Aero Thermo Structure
• Spacecraft platform
• Deceleration and flotation system
• Microgravity payloads

Payloads

• The first experiment “Biological effects of Microgravity: A genomic and proteomics approach” is being developed in collaboration with CCMB, Hyderabad and a biorack is being developed to enable this experiment. In this experiment, a colony of E. coli bacteria will be grown in microgravity condition and brought back to earth to carry out genomic and proteomic studies. Comparison of these with that obtained during bench mark ground experiments will enable us to identify the genes whose expression is affected by the microgravity. This experiment is designed to explore why microgravity alters some of the growth behaviour of the biological system.
• A second experiment will carry a joint biological payload between JAXA, and Indian Scientists at ISRO and CCMB. The payload is being developed by JAXA with close interaction with ISRO engineers. The experiment will carry cynobacteria which will be cultured under microgravity condition. The aim is to study the effect of microgravity on the photosynthetic ability of these bacteria.
• The third experiment will carry seeds of rice and medicinal plants that will be exposed both to microgravity and space radiation. A dosimeter will measure the amount of radiation. The exposed seeds will be planted on return and the growth of these plants will be compared with the plants of the unexposed seeds to evaluate the effect of microgravity and space radiation.