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Utilization of NASA Managed Cold Stowage Resources for Optimal Culture Incubation and Storage of SPEGIS Canisters.  K. Sato¹, D. Connor², J. Dean³, D. Melendez³, D.W. Niesel⁴, N. Williams⁴, U. Pandya⁴, S. Ormsby¹, K. Gibbs¹, K.E. Perkins¹ and H.E. Teal⁵

¹Lockheed Martin Space Operations, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, ²Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, ³Jacobs Sverdrup, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Houston, TX, ⁴Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, and ⁵NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.

   Providing optimal on-orbit heating, cooling, and low temperature storage of biological flight samples is a critical component for successful spaceflight investigations.   The NASA managed Cold Stowage Working Group, NASA Ames Research Center, and the University of Texas Medical Branch are cooperatively fine-tuning the experimental parameters for use of the Cold Stowage Resources with biological specimens requiring specific incubation and storage temperatures.  The space biology experiment, SPEGIS- Streptococcus pneumoniae Gene Expression and Virulence Potential in the Space Environment, entails S. pneumoniae being launched in vials that are contained within the SPEGIS Canisters aboard the Space Shuttle at 4 °C.  While in orbit, the cultures will be activated upon reaching 37 °C and later stored at –20 °C (or colder) until recovery.  In order to assess the time required for the SPEGIS Canisters to reach 37 °C from 4 °C, and then –20 °C (or colder), a number of testing scenarios have been performed utilizing the Cold Stowage Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), Microgravity Experiment Research Locker/INcubator (MERLIN), and simulated incubator/cold-room models at UTMB to mimic the Cold Stowage results.  Determination of the time required for temperature equilibration of the SPEGIS Canisters will establish the necessary parameters for starting culture concentrations and optimization of sample return at designated collection time points.

(Supported by NASA: NCC2-1160)