The student-led SCAMPi project, which will investigate how space impacts ecosystems at the genetic level, has begun its assembly and testing phases!
SCAMPi is supported by the ESA Academy Experiments Programme, and for the experiment to proceed as planned, the shrimp must survive the intense journey to the International Space Station, including significant vibrations during launch. SCAMPi’s scientists are currently working to ensure the shrimp can withstand these vibrations while also minimizing the effects of launch-related stressors on the experiment.
Confidence testing for this took place in Torino previously and will also take place in Paris to confirm the hardware’s readiness. The SCAMPi team will assess each subsystem of the module through leak, vacuum, vibration, and thermal tests. In March, the experiment will undergo qualification testing at ESA facilities in Belgium and the Netherlands before the final pre-launch assembly of the module.
If all goes as planned, SCAMPi will be on track for its target launch date in late summer 2025. Once in space, the ecosystem will spend 180 days on the ISS. Before reentry, SCAMPi will be frozen to preserve its genetic material for analysis back on Earth.
While the effects of space on individual organisms have been studied before, SCAMPi will be one of the first experiments to examine how microgravity impacts an entire ecosystem. Microgravity affects both humans and other organisms. For instance, astronauts experience bone density loss and changes in blood flow, while some bacteria on the ISS have begun evolving, potentially posing a threat. SCAMPi aims to investigate what these types of changes mean for an entire ecosystem, analyzing how a closed and ideally self-sustaining system responds to the stressors of space.
Questions such as “How will microgravity affect the food we grow?” and “To what extent will it impact nutrient retention?” will be better understood with these experiments. The findings from SCAMPi could have significant implications for the future of sustainable life in space, including the development of reliable food sources for long-term missions.
Read more about SCAMPI here: