O/OREOS

The O/OREOS (Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses) is an automated CubeSat nanosatellite laboratory approximately the size of a loaf of bread that contains two separate astrobiology experiments onboard. Developed by the Small Spacecraft Division at NASA Ames Research Center, the spacecraft was successfully launched as a secondary payload on STP-S26 led by the Space Test Program of the United States Air Force on a Minotaur IV rocket from Kodiak Island, Alaska on November 19, 2010.

Mission overview

The O/OREOS satellite is NASA's first cubesat to demonstrate the capability to have two distinct, completely independent science experiments on an autonomous satellite. One experiment will test how microorganisms survive and adapt to the stresses of space; the other will monitor the stability of organic molecules in space.

The overall goal of the O/OREOS mission is to demonstrate the capability to do low-cost science experiments on autonomous nanosatellites in space in support of the 'Astrobiology Small Payloads' program under the Planetary Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA's Headquarters. NASA's Ames Small Spacecraft Division manages the O/OREOS mission while all operations will be conducted by staff and students from the Robotic Systems Laboratory at Santa Clara University. Scientists will apply the knowledge they gain while investigating the space environment and studying how exposure to space changes organisms to help to answer astrobiology's fundamental questions on the origin, evolution, and distribution of life.