We address a key baseline question of whether gene expression changes are induced by the orbital environment and then we ask whether undifferentiated cells cells presumably lacking the typical gravity response mechanisms perceive spaceflight. Arabidopsis seedlings and undifferentiated cultured Arabidopsis cells were launched in April 2010 as part of the BRIC-16 flight experiment on STS-131. Biologically replicated DNA microarray and averaged RNA digital transcript profiling revealed several hundred genes in seedlings and cell cultures that were significantly affected by launch and spaceflight. The response was moderate in seedlings; only a few genes were induced by more than 7-fold and the overall intrinsic expression level for most differentially expressed genes was low. In contrast cell cultures displayed a more dramatic response with dozens of genes showing this level of differential expression a list comprised primarily of heat shock-related and stress-related genes. This baseline transcriptome profiling of seedlings and cultured cells confirms the fundamental hypothesis that survival of the spaceflight environment requires adaptive changes that are both governed and displayed by alterations in gene expression. The comparison of intact plants with cultures of undifferentiated cells confirms a second hypothesis: undifferentiated cells can detect spaceflight in the absence of specialized tissue or organized developmental structures known to detect gravity.

The BOREAS RSS-10 team investigated the magnitude of daily, seasonal, and yearly variations of PAR from ground and satellite observations. This data set contains satellite estimates of surface-incident photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm, MJ m-2) at 1 degree spatial resolution. The spatial coverage is circumpolar from latitudes of 41 to 66 degrees N latitude. The temporal coverage is from May through September for years 1979 through 1989. Eleven-year statistics are also provided: mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation for 1979-1989. The PAR estimates were derived from the global gridded ultraviolet reflectivity data product (average of 360, 380 nm) from the Nimbus-7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). Image mask data are provided for identifying the boreal forest zone, and ocean/land and snow/ice covered areas. The data are available as binary image format data files. Companion files include example thumbnail images that may be viewed and the image data files downloaded using a convenient viewer utility.

Human deep space and planetary travel is limited by uncertainties regarding the health risks associated with exposure to galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and in particular the high linear energy transfer (LET) heavy ion component. Here we assessed the impact of two high-LET ions 56Fe and 28Si and low-LET X rays on genome-wide methylation patterns in human bronchial epithelial cells. We found that all three radiation types induced rapid and stable changes in DNA methylation but at distinct subsets of CpG sites affecting different chromatin compartments. The 56Fe ions induced mostly hypermethylation and primarily affected sites in open chromatin regions including enhancers promoters and edges ( shores ) of CpG islands. The 28Si ion-exposure had mixed effects inducing both hyper and hypomethylation and affecting sites in more repressed heterochromatic environments whereas X rays induced mostly hypomethylation primarily at sites in gene bodies and intergenic regions. Significantly the methylation status of 56Fe ion irradiation sensitive sites but not those affected by X ray or 28Si ions could discriminate tumor from normal tissue for human lung adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. Thus high LET radiation exposure leaves a lasting imprint on the epigenome and affects sites relevant to human lung cancer. The 56Fe ion signature may prove useful in monitoring the cumulative biological impact and associated cancer risks encountered by astronauts in deep space. Genome wide DNA methylation profiling of normal human bronchial epithelial cells irradiated with varying doses of 28Si-ion radiation ( 300 MeV/u at 0 0.3 1.0 Gy) 56Fe-ion radiation (600 MeV/u at 0 0.1 0.3 1.0 Gy) or X rays (320 kV at 0 1.0 Gy). Triplicate control and irradiated samples were incubated and sampled at 4 timepoints between 2 and 62 days. The Illumina Infinium 450k Human DNA methylation Beadchip was used to obtain DNA methylation profiles across >485,000 CpGs from collected samples. Samples include: 56Fe ions 4 doses x 4 time points x 3 replicates (4 removed in QC) = 44 samples; 28Si ions = 3 doses x 4 time points x 3 replicates = 36 samples; X ray 2 doses x 4 time points x 3 replicates (2 removed in QC)= 22 samples. Overall design: Bisulphite converted DNA from the 102 samples were hybridized to the Illumina Infinium 450k Human Methylation Beadchip.

ERBE_S10N_WFOV_SF_Edition2 is the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) S-10N (Non-scanner-only) Wide Field of View (WFOV) Shape Factor (SF) Radiant Flux and Albedo Edition 2 in Native Format data product. Data collection for this product is complete.This product resulted from the reprocessed ERBE S10N_WFOV ERBS Edition2 data product. It contains temporally and spatially averaged shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) fluxes derived from one month of Earth Radiation Budget Experiment non-scanning wide field-of-view instruments aboard the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS). Instantaneous Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) fluxes from the ERBE/ERBS S7 product were spatially averaged on a 5° and 10° equal-angle grid using numerical filter and shape factor techniques, respectively. ERBE scanner-independent temporal interpolation algorithms were applied to produce daily, monthly-hourly, and monthly mean fluxes from the instantaneous gridded data. The S10N_WFOV files contain both temporally averaged and instantaneous gridded mean values of TOA total-sky LW flux, total-sky SW flux, and total-sky albedo for each 5° and 10° region observed during the month. The major differences between Edition2 and the original release were in the monthly mean fluxes with (1) the incorporation of stochastic quality assurance algorithms for filtering out monthly-mean data with excessive temporal sample errors and (2) a self-consistent usage of the WFOV data in selecting scene-dependent directional models for temporal interpolation of the ERBE WFOV instantaneous gridded data.

ERBE_S4G_SC_NEST10_1 is the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) S-4G Scanner (SC) 5 degree nested to 10 degree Regional Averages data set, which in in Hierarchical Data Format. Data collection for this data set is complete.ERBE was a multi-satellite system designed to measure the Earth's radiation budget. The ERBE instruments flew on a mid-inclination National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) and two sun-synchronous National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites, NOAA-9 and NOAA-10. NOAA-9 and NOAA-10 provided global coverage and the ERBS provided coverage between 67.5 degrees north and south latitude. Each satellite carried both a scanner and a non-scanner instrument package. The scanner instrument package contained three detectors to measure shortwave (0.2 to 5 microns), longwave (5 to 50 microns) and total waveband radiation (.2 to 50 microns). Each detector normally scanned the Earth perpendicular to the satellite ground-track from horizon-to-horizon. The detectors were thermistors which used space views on every scan as a reference point to guard against drift. They were located at the focal point of a f/1.84 Cassegrain telescope, whose aluminum-coated mirrors were overcoated to enhance ultraviolet reflectivity. The total channel had no filter; therefore it absorbed all wavelengths. The shortwave channel was a fused silica filter which transmitted only shortwave radiation. The longwave channel was a multilayer filter on a diamond substrate to reject shortwave energy and accept longwave. To enhance the spectral flatness of the detectors, each thermistor chip was coated with a thin layer of black paint. The effective field of view of the scanner was 3 degrees. The ERBE S-4G product contained averages of radiant flux and albedo on regional, zonal, and global scales. The data for the S-4G product were arranged by parameter values. The various combinations of the satellites reflected the actual duration of the scanners.

ERBE_S4G_SC_ZG_1 is the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) S-4G Scanner (SC) 2.5, 5, 10 degrees Zonal and Global Regional Averages data set. It is in Hierarchical Data Format. Data collection for this data set is complete.ERBE was a multi-satellite system designed to measure the Earth's radiation budget. The ERBE instruments flew on a mid-inclination National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) and two sun-synchronous National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites, NOAA-9 and NOAA-10. NOAA-9 and NOAA-10 provided global coverage and the ERBS provided coverage between 67.5 degrees north and south latitude. Each satellite carried both a scanner and a non-scanner instrument package. The scanner instrument package contained three detectors to measure shortwave (0.2 to 5 microns), longwave (5 to 50 microns) and total waveband radiation (.2 to 50 microns). Each detector normally scanned the Earth perpendicular to the satellite ground-track from horizon-to-horizon. The detectors were thermistors which used space views on every scan as a reference point to guard against drift. They were located at the focal point of a f/1.84 Cassegrain telescope, whose aluminum-coated mirrors were overcoated to enhance ultraviolet reflectivity. The total channel had no filter; therefore it absorbed all wavelengths. The shortwave channel was a fused silica filter which transmitted only shortwave radiation. The longwave channel was a multilayer filter on a diamond substrate to reject shortwave energy and accept longwave. To enhance the spectral flatness of the detectors, each thermistor chip was coated with a thin layer of black paint. The effective field of view of the scanner was 3 degrees. The ERBE S-4G product contained averages of radiant flux and albedo on regional, zonal, and global scales. The data for the S-4G product were arranged by parameter values. The various combinations of the satellites reflected the actual duration of the scanners.

ERBE_S10N_WFV_SF_NAT_1 is the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) S-10N (Non-scanner-only) Wide Field of View (WFOV) Shape Factor (SF) Earth Flux and Albedo data product. Data collection for this product is complete. It is available in the Native (NAT) Format.ERBE was a multi-satellite system designed to measure the Earth's radiation budget. The ERBE instruments flew on a mid-inclination National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) and two sun-synchronous National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites (NOAA-9 and NOAA-10). Each satellite carried both a scanner and a non-scanner instrument package. The non-scanner instrument package contained four Earth-viewing channels and a solar monitor. The Earth-viewing channels had two spatial resolutions: a horizon-to-horizon view of the Earth, and a field-of-view limited to about 1000 km in diameter. The former was called WFOV and the latter the medium field-of-view (MFOV) channels. The solar monitor was a direct descendant of the Solar Maximum Mission's Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor detector. Due to the concern for spectral flatness and high accuracy, all five of the channels were active cavity radiometers. The MFOV (medium-field-of-view) SF (shape factor) S-10 contained inverted daily, monthly hourly, and monthly averages of shortwave and long-wave radiant fluxes at the top-of-the-atmosphere for one month. This data set was produced for each of the satellites (ERBS and NOAA-9) and the combination of satellites, which were operational during the data month. The values for this data set were derived using the shape factor technique (Smith et al. 1986). As described in the Earth Radiant Fluxes and Albedo, Scanner S-9, Non-scanner S-10/S-10N User's Guide, the data contains a 30 byte header, 67 scale factors which were used to scale the data in the first record, and 26 scale factors which were used to scale the data in the second record. The data set also contained two records for each processed region. The first record was of fixed length (990 words) and contained averaged data. The second record was of variable length and contained individual hour box estimates. The length of the second record, in words, was calculated by multiplying the number of hour boxes (978th word of record one) by the number of values stored for each hour box (38 for the non-scanner).