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The Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) contains an aqueous, alkaline fluid (pH 9.5±0.5) that aids in maintaining a habitable environment for the crew. Because microbes have significant potential to cause disease, adverse effects on astronaut health, and microbe-induced corrosion, the presence of both bacteria and viruses within IATCS fluids is of concern. This study sought to detect and identify viral populations in IATCS samples obtained from the Kennedy Space Center as a first step towards characterizing and understanding potential risks associated with them. Samples were concentrated and viral nucleic acids (NA) extracted providing solutions containing 8.87-22.67 μg NA per mL of heat transfer fluid. After further amplification viral DNA and cDNA were then pooled, fluorescently labeled, and hybridized onto a Combimatrix panvira 12K microarray containing probes for ∼1,000 known human viruses.

The Internal Active Thermal Control System (IATCS) aboard the International Space Station (ISS) maintains appropriate ambient cabin temperatures. The microbial community of IATCS fluid was examined using conventional culture-based and advanced molecular techniques including adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) assays, direct microscopic examination, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of 16S rDNA genes from the community metagenome. About 50% of the samples examined showed populations that are uncultivable but contained viable cells. RFLP analyses identified nine distinct bacterial groups from the 171 clones and eight distinct bacterial groups from the 26 cultivable organisms,indicating significant diversity.