{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T15:16:00Z","timestamp":1778512560697,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,18]],"date-time":"2020-07-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1595030400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007067","name":"Kempestiftelserna","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SMK-1934"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SMK-1934"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007067","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004063","name":"Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["KAW 2016.0346"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KAW 2016.0346"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004063","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100011033","name":"Agencia Estatal de Investigaci\u00f3n","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MDM-2017-0737"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MDM-2017-0737"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100011033","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>We describe a versatile simulation chamber that operates under representative space conditions (pressures from &lt; 10\u22125 mbar to ambient and temperatures from 163 to 423 K), the SpaceQ chamber. This chamber allows to test instrumentation, procedures, and materials and evaluate their performance when exposed to outgassing, thermal vacuum, low temperatures, baking, dry heat microbial reduction (DHMR) sterilization protocols, and water. The SpaceQ is a cubical stainless-steel chamber of 27,000 cm3 with a door of aluminum. The chamber has a table which can be cooled using liquid nitrogen. The chamber walls can be heated (for outgassing, thermal vacuum, or dry heat applications) using an outer jacket. The chamber walls include two viewports and 12 utility ports (KF, CF, and Swagelok connectors). It has sensors for temperature, relative humidity, and pressure, a UV\u2013VIS\u2013NIR spectrometer, a UV irradiation lamp that operates within the chamber as well as a stainless-steel syringe for water vapor injection, and USB, DB-25 ports to read the data from the instruments while being tested inside. This facility has been specifically designed for investigating the effect of water on the Martian surface. The core novelties of this chamber are: (1) its ability to simulate the Martian near-surface water cycle by injecting water multiple times into the chamber through a syringe which allows to control and monitor precisely the initial relative humidity inside with a sensor that can operate from vacuum to Martian pressures and (2) the availability of a high-intensity UV lamp, operating from vacuum to Martian pressures, within the chamber, which can be used to test material curation, the role of the production of atmospheric radicals, and the degradation of certain products like polymers and organics. For illustration, here we present some applications of the SpaceQ chamber at simulated Martian conditions with and without atmospheric water to (i) calibrate the ground temperature sensor of the Engineering Qualification Model of HABIT (HabitAbility: Brines, Irradiation and Temperature) instrument, which is a part of ExoMars 2022 mission. These tests demonstrate that the overall accuracy of the temperature retrieval at a temperature between \u221250 and 10 \u00b0C is within 1.3 \u00b0C and (ii) investigate the curation of composite materials of Martian soil simulant and binders, with added water, under Martian surface conditions under dry and humid conditions. Our studies have demonstrated that the regolith, when mixed with super absorbent polymer (SAP), water, and binders exposed to Martian conditions, can form a solid block and retain more than 80% of the added water, which may be of interest to screen radiation while maintaining a low weight.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s20143996","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,20]],"date-time":"2020-07-20T10:59:38Z","timestamp":1595242778000},"page":"3996","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Space Environmental Chamber for Planetary Studies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0499-6370","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abhilash","family":"Vakkada Ramachandran","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Lule\u00e5 University of Technology, 97187 Lule\u00e5, Sweden"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7148-8803","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miracle Israel","family":"Nazarious","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Lule\u00e5 University of Technology, 97187 Lule\u00e5, Sweden"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Thasshwin","family":"Mathanlal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Lule\u00e5 University of Technology, 97187 Lule\u00e5, Sweden"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda-Paz","family":"Zorzano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Lule\u00e5 University of Technology, 97187 Lule\u00e5, Sweden"},{"name":"Centro de Astrobiolog\u00eda (CSIC-INTA), Torrej\u00f3n de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain"},{"name":"School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6479-2236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Javier","family":"Mart\u00edn-Torres","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Lule\u00e5 University of Technology, 97187 Lule\u00e5, Sweden"},{"name":"School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, UK"},{"name":"Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-UGR), 18100 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104968","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pss.2020.104968","article-title":"The HABIT (HabitAbility: Brine Irradiation and Temperature) Environmental Instrument for the ExoMars 2022 Surface Platform","volume":"190","author":"Zorzano","year":"2020","journal-title":"Planet. Space Sci."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"120","article-title":"On Artificial Martian Conditions Reproduced for Microbiological Research","volume":"3","author":"Zhukova","year":"1965","journal-title":"Life Sci. Space Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01732370","article-title":"Mars Ultraviolet Simulation Facility","volume":"14","author":"Zill","year":"1979","journal-title":"J. Mol. Evol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1016\/0273-1177(94)00147-S","article-title":"The DLR Small Simulation Chamber: A Tool for Cometary Research in the Lab","volume":"15","author":"Seidensticker","year":"1995","journal-title":"Adv. Sp. Res."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"189","DOI":"10.1016\/S0273-1177(01)00046-1","article-title":"EXOCAM: Mars in a Box to Simulate Soil-Atmosphere Interactions","volume":"27","author":"Rannou","year":"2001","journal-title":"Adv. Space Res."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"821","DOI":"10.1016\/S0032-0633(02)00056-9","article-title":"Investigation of Biological, Chemical and Physical Processes on and in Planetary Surfaces by Laboratory Simulation","volume":"50","author":"Sears","year":"2002","journal-title":"Planet. Space Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.asr.2003.04.003","article-title":"SURFRESIDE: A Novel Experiment to Study Surface Chemistry under Interstellar and Protostellar Conditions","volume":"33","author":"Fraser","year":"2004","journal-title":"Adv. Space Res."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2004.03.016","article-title":"Laboratory Simulations of Mars Aqueous Geochemistry","volume":"170","author":"Bullock","year":"2004","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"625","DOI":"10.1007\/s11084-006-9046-1","article-title":"S.A.M., the Italian Martian Simulation Chamber","volume":"36","author":"Galletta","year":"2006","journal-title":"Orig. Life Evol. Biosph."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2274","DOI":"10.1088\/0957-0233\/17\/8\/031","article-title":"Chamber for Studying Planetary Environments and Its Applications to Astrobiology","volume":"17","author":"Sobrado","year":"2006","journal-title":"Meas. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"537","DOI":"10.1089\/ast.2006.0092","article-title":"A Facility for Long-Term Mars Simulation Experiments: The Mars Environmental Simulation Chamber (MESCH)","volume":"8","author":"Jensen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Astrobiology"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"212","DOI":"10.1002\/jrs.3017","article-title":"A Planetary Environment and Analysis Chamber (PEACh) for Coordinated Raman-LIBS-IR Measurements under Planetary Surface Environmental Conditions","volume":"43","author":"Sobron","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Raman Spectrosc."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"035111","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4868592","article-title":"Mimicking Mars: A Vacuum Simulation Chamber for Testing Environmental Instrumentation for Mars Exploration","volume":"85","author":"Sobrado","year":"2014","journal-title":"Rev. Sci. Instrum."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1140\/epjti\/s40485-015-0025-7","article-title":"Design of a Mars Atmosphere Simulation Chamber and Testing a Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS) under Conditions Pertinent to Mars Rover Missions","volume":"2","author":"Motamedi","year":"2015","journal-title":"EPJ Tech. Instrum."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"536","DOI":"10.1089\/ast.2005.5.536","article-title":"Bacillus SubtilisSpore Survival and Expression of Germination-Induced Bioluminescence After Prolonged Incubation Under Simulated Mars Atmospheric Pressure and Composition: Implications for Planetary Protection and Lithopanspermia","volume":"5","author":"Nicholson","year":"2005","journal-title":"Astrobiology"},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"655","article-title":"The Hypervelocity Impact Facility and Environmental Simulation at the Open University","volume":"5","author":"Patel","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eur. Planet. Sci. Congr."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1017\/njg.2015.19","article-title":"PALLAS: Planetary Analogues Laboratory for Light, Atmosphere, and Surface Simulations","volume":"95","author":"Kate","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neth. J. Geosci. Geol. Mijnb."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cozzolino, F., Mennella, V., Ruggeri, A., Mongelluzzo, G., Franzese, G., Popa, C., Molfese, C., Esposito, F., Porto, C., and Scaccabarozzi, D. (2020). Martian Environment Chamber: Dust Systems Injections. Planet. Space Sci., 104971.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pss.2020.104971"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"357","DOI":"10.1038\/ngeo2412","article-title":"Transient liquid water and water activity at Gale crater on Mars","volume":"8","author":"Zorzano","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nat. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Vakkada Ramachandran, A., Zorzano, M.-P., and Mart\u00edn-Torres, F.J. (2020). The stability of Martian dew and brines under non-equilibrium conditions. J. Geophys. Res. Planets, under review."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103349","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cemconcomp.2019.103349","article-title":"Concrete on Mars: Options, Challenges, and Solutions for Binder-Based Construction on the Red Planet","volume":"104","author":"Reches","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cem. Concr. Compos."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32121","DOI":"10.1039\/C9RA06300E","article-title":"Influence of Nitrogen\/Phosphorus-Doped Carbon Dots on Polyamide Thin Film Membranes for Water Vapor\/N2 Mixture Gas Separation","volume":"9","author":"Shirke","year":"2019","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2132","DOI":"10.1002\/2013JE004514","article-title":"Mars Science Laboratory Relative Humidity Observations: Initial Results","volume":"119","author":"Harri","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Planets"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1212","DOI":"10.1016\/j.asr.2015.05.044","article-title":"Evaluation of Lunar Regolith Geopolymer Binder as a Radioactive Shielding Material for Space Exploration Applications","volume":"56","author":"Montes","year":"2015","journal-title":"Adv. Sp. Res."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Simonsen, L.C., and Nealy, J.E. (2020, May 01). In Radiation protection for human missions to the Moon and Mars, Available online: https:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/19910008686.pdf."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1555\/mars.2006.0004","article-title":"Radiation Effects and Shielding Requirements in Human Missions to the Moon and Mars","volume":"2","author":"Rapp","year":"2006","journal-title":"Mars J."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Rais-Rohani, M. (2020, May 02). On Structural Design of a Mobile Lunar Habitat with Multi-Layered Environmental Shielding, Available online: https:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/20050215340.pdf."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"222","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conbuildmat.2016.05.046","article-title":"A Novel Material for in Situ Construction on Mars: Experiments and Numerical Simulations","volume":"120","author":"Wan","year":"2016","journal-title":"Constr. Build. Mater."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carranza, S., Makel, D.B., Blizman, B., Carranza, S., Makel, D.B., and Blizman, B. (2006). In Situ Manufacturing of Plastics and Composites to Support H & R Exploration. Am. Inst. Physics., 1122.","DOI":"10.1063\/1.2169293"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"582","DOI":"10.1016\/j.asr.2010.04.009","article-title":"Multifunctional Martian Habitat Composite Material Synthesised from in Situ Resources","volume":"46","author":"Sen","year":"2010","journal-title":"Adv. Sp. Res."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shukla, S., Agnihotri, S., Lai, Z., Kousaalya, A.B., Pilla, S., and Chen, Q. (2018, January 9\u201312). Creation and Characterisation of Regolith-Based Functional Blocks with Simulated In Situ Martian Materials. Proceedings of the 16th Biennial International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments, Cleveland, OH, USA.","DOI":"10.1061\/9780784481899.059"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"830","DOI":"10.1016\/j.asr.2017.10.050","article-title":"Formation of Polymer Micro-Agglomerations in Ultralow-Binder-Content Composite Based on Lunar Soil Simulant","volume":"61","author":"Chen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Adv. Sp. Res."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1617\/s11527-017-1109-4","article-title":"Mechanical and Self-Healing Properties of Cementitious Materials with PH-Responsive Semi-Synthetic Superabsorbent Polymers","volume":"50","author":"Mignon","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mater. Struct."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"481","DOI":"10.1080\/03602550701297095","article-title":"Synthesis of Poly (Acrylamide-Co-Acrylic Acid) Based Superabsorbent Hydrogels: Study of Network Parameters and Swelling Behaviour","volume":"46","author":"Tomar","year":"2007","journal-title":"Polym. Plast. Technol. Eng."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"Wei, Z., Lu, Z., Yue, L., Li, L., Yang, S., and Yang, Z. (2012). Study on Preparation and Properties of PAAS\/PVA Hydrogel Super Absorbent Polymer. J. Soochow Univ. (Medical Sci. Ed.), 5."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"470","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2008.05.004","article-title":"Mojave Mars Simulant\u2014Characterisation of a New Geologic Mars Analog","volume":"197","author":"Peters","year":"2008","journal-title":"Icarus"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"583","DOI":"10.1007\/s11214-012-9921-1","article-title":"REMS: The Environmental Sensor Suite for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover","volume":"170","author":"Armiens","year":"2012","journal-title":"Space Sci. Rev."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1680","DOI":"10.1002\/2013JE004576","article-title":"Curiosity\u2019s Rover Environmental Monitoring Station: Overview of the First 100 Sols","volume":"119","author":"Armiens","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/20\/14\/3996\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:49:36Z","timestamp":1760176176000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/20\/14\/3996"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,18]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"14","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7]]}},"alternative-id":["s20143996"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s20143996","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,18]]}}}