BIOPAN is a multi-user research program by the European Space Agency (ESA) designed to investigate the effect of the space environment on biological material.[1][2] The experiments in BIOPAN are exposed to solar and cosmic radiation, the space vacuum and weightlessness, or a selection thereof. Optionally, the experiment temperature can be stabilized. BIOPAN hosts astrobiology, radiobiology and materials science experiments.
The BIOPAN facility is installed on the external surface of Russian Foton descent capsules protruding from the thermal blanket that envelops the satellite.
- ^ "BIOPAN Pan for exposure to space environment". Kayser Italia. 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ Charles S. Cockell, Karen Olsson-Francis (23 October 2009). "Experimental methods for studying microbial survival in extraterrestrial environments" (PDF). Journal of Microbiological Methods. 80 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2009.10.004. PMID 19854226. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.