EXPOSES is a facility dedicated to exobiology, developed by ESA for medium and long term flights and installed outside the International Space Station (ISS).

The equipment is designed to allow the exhibition of chemical and biological samples while recording the temperature and the effective exposure time. It is installed on external arrays of the ISS.

Two EXPOSES equipment have been developed: EXPOSES-E and EXPOSES-R. EXPOSES-E is installed on the European Columbus module, and more particularly, on the EuteF platform, where EXPOSES-R is installed on the Russian Zevzda module.

Each of the EXPOSES frames involves several simultaneous experiments. Various experiments are to expose solid molecules, gaseous mixtures or biological samples in various radiations in space, tospace vacuum and temperature fluctuations. LISA is involved on EXPOSES-E through the PROCESS experiment and EXPOSES-R through the AMINO experiment.

Left: one of the two platforms exposes

Right: Organization of a door sample for the experiments of LISA, with a layer of cells exposed, and a layer of cells not exposed

 

 

These experiments of molecules to solar UV exposure are the first experiments of long duration (18 months to 2 years) in space. PROCESS samples returned to Earth on September 12, 2009 and the return of AMINO is scheduled for early 2011.

Localization EXPOSES-R (and experience AMINO) outside the International Space Station