EANA is involved in the following topical team:

Electromagnetic Techniques

Full title: Response of Organisms to the Martian Environment (ROME)

The group wishes to investigate the biological effects on organisms of the combined physical and chemical extremes found on the Martian surface: low temperatures, UV radiation, low pressure, and dissecation. Their work will help to evaluate the potential for contamination of Mars by terrestrial species transported on lander spacecraft.

Additionally, it will be of importance to determine the effect of the Martian environment on putative extinct or extant microbes; this, in turn, may prove useful for identifying promising micro-habitats to search for signs of life on the red planet. This Topical Team will coordinate the studies performed on Mars simulation facilities across Europe, providing cohesion in European efforts to study the effect of the Mars environment on biological systems.

Topical Team members:
C.Cockell (UK),
G. Horneck (D),
A. Airo (D),
A. Brack (F),
C. Cordoba-Jabonero (E),
G. Dieckmann (D),
H. Edwards (UK),
D. Häder (D),
E. Helmke (D),
H. Kochan (D),
C. Kolb (A),
H. Lammer (A),
D. Möhlmann (D),
H. Stan-Lotter (A),
F. Westall (F)

Upper Boundary of the Biosphere

Full title: Upper Boundary of the Biosphere

Little is known about the populations inhabiting the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere. This Topical Team will develop a strategy for determining the vertical profile of biota in our atmosphere. It will outline a program based on aerosol sampling by high-flying airplanes, balloons, sounding rockets, satellites, and the International Space Station; as well as studies in ground-based simulation facilities. This work will contribute to:

1. understand how life adapts to extreme environments;
2. better establish the distribution of life in planets and the possibility of organisms to escape their parent body; and
3. map the aerial migration of microbes around the globe, a subject of health and ecological interest.

Topical Team members:
H.-C. Flemming (D),
C. S. Cockell (UK),
G. Horneck (D),
A. Leis (D),
R. Niessner (D),
G. Reitz (D),
E. Stackebrandt (D)