Evaluating how microorganisms respond and tolerate space conditions is essential to ensure safe access and exploration of space. This thesis investigates the risks associated with the contamination of other planets with microbes originating from Earth, and how the human immune system responds to infections in space. The first part showed how human-associated pathogenic bacteria interact with the immune system after exposure to space conditions and how regolith simulants impact human health. The second part focuses on the survival of environmental microorganisms capable of growth at subzero temperatures. The growth of such microbes is relevant to investigate the habitability of the icy moons of the solar system and to evaluate the risks associated with contamination from Earth. The studies of this thesis have shown how selected microorganisms can tolerate space conditions. This work provides new microbial survival data and aims to improve healthy access to space for humans.
Tommaso (1997) obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science at Anglia Ruskin University in 2018 and his master’s degree in Biology at the Radboud University in 2021. In 2021 he started his PhD at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany, with the collaboration of RadboudUMC to research human health and microbial contamination in space.