Teleoperated astropharmaceutical payload for long-duration space missions: Project VITA!

The VITA (Visualising In-space Tx-Tl Astropharmaceuticals) mission is a teleoperated Astropharmaceutical cube-payload that is aiming to launch a biological experiment to the ICE Cubes Facility (ICF) on board the International Space Station (ISS). Project VITA aims to enable on-site, on-demand production of therapeutics for long-duration human spaceflight, addressing the critical need for transportable medicines as outlined by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) Global Exploration Roadmap (GER). The main scientific goal is to demonstrate efficient and effective cell-free synthesis in a compact and flexible platform. Considering the possible increase in future human spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars, the success of VITA will be a turning point to further satisfy the demand for medical drugs during long duration missions. Following weeks of preservation, the experiment intends to demonstrate the ability to rehydrate the freeze-dried cellulose stacks, kickstarting the synthesis of fluorescent proteins, and perform real-time, in situ detection through fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging. The aim of this paper is to present the system architecture required for teleoperated Astropharmaceutical experiment cubes and CubeSats, covering merits and drawbacks. Considering the potential large variation of temperature in a spaceflight mission, and the critical temperature dependency to maintain protein stability, this paper also presents studies carried out and outcomes for active and autonomous thermal management systems. A key innovation of the mission is the implementation of a miniaturised, dual-mode thermal control system using Peltier modules and a predictive two-way control algorithm, enabling precise and autonomous temperature regulation within strict power constraints. Since this will be just a first step for in space pharmaceutical production, it will open a new broad subject and the final part will focus on future work areas to improve the project for possible Astropharmaceutical production platforms beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Knowing that one of the biggest challenges for human spaceflight is related to human health and reflecting the limited access to Earth, the medical challenges must be overcome, and in-situ therapeutic production shall be proved. Hence, the initial success of the VITA mission will be a pioneering step to enable deep space human missions. • A compact, teleoperated payload enables cell-free protein synthesis in space. • Precise thermal control using Peltier modules under power constraints. • Optimised fluidics subsystem delivering 40 μ L buffer per sample in microgravity. • Real-time fluorescence spectroscopy for successful in-situ protein expression. • Pioneering step for autonomous pharmaceutical production in deep space missions.