Ground based experiments, conducted in advanced space environment simulation facilities, complement the exo/astrobiological
experiments in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). For example, the in-orbit ESA-facility EXPOSE on the International Space Station ISS can
only accommodate a limited number of experiments for exposure to the space parameters high vacuum, intense radiation of galactic
and solar origin and microgravity. Ground based experiments in carefully equipped and monitored simulation facilities allow necessary
experiment preparation and additional investigation of a much wider variety of samples. In the ESA accepted experiment SSIOUX,
ESA-RA-LS-01-PREP, an international consortium of 14 prime investigators will expose organic compounds and a wide range of microorganisms,
from bacterial spores to complex microbial communities, to simulated space environment parameters in pursuit of exobiological
questions on their resistance to space environment and the origin and distribution of life. The experiments will be conducted in the
Planetary and Space Simulation Facilities of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at DLR in Köln, Germany, where the simulated space
parameters vacuum with controlled residual composition, ionizing radiation, polychromatic UV radiation and selected UV ranges from
vacuum-UV to UVA, VIS and IR or individual monochromatic UV wavelengths, and temperature control at the sample site are provided
individually or in selected combinations in 9 facilities of varying sizes. Parameters are constantly measured and data are available
in real time online during the exposure. Experiments in these facilities discriminate between the effects of individual space parameters and
selected combinations. In addition, they serve as ground experiments defining interesting and suitable biological samples for future space
experiments and compliment the data of executed space experiments and those in progress. As 1 x g controls, they also enable the identification
of microgravity effects when compared to the space experiments.
Here, the SSIOUX consortium and their experiments will be presented as well as the ground based Planetary and Space Simulation
Facilities at DLR. The results of the SSIOUX experiments will be directly comparable and are designed to lead to further understanding
of adaptation and evolution of life