Microgravity-Science and Technology https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-018-9601-1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Pitting Corrosion Within Bioreactors for Space Cell-Culture Contaminated by Paenibacillus glucanolyticus, a Case Report Ivana Barravecchia 1,2 · Chiara De Cesari 1 · Olga V. Pyankova 1 · Francesca Scebba 1 · Marco Carlo Mascherpa 3 · Alessandra Vecchione 4 · Arianna Tavanti 4 · Lorena Tedeschi 5 · Debora Angeloni 1 Received: 23 November 2017 / Accepted: 8 February 2018 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Performing cell biology experiments in space imposes the use of hardware that essentially allows fluid exchange in a con- tained environment. Given the technical and logistical peculiarities, the limited opportunities and the high cost of access to space, a great effort during mission preparation of scientific studies is devoted to preventing loss of the experiment. The Euro- pean Space Agency (ESA) requires, at the end of the preparation phase, the execution of an Experiment Sequence Test (EST), a dry-run version of the space experiment to check all procedures. At conclusion of the EST of our experiment ‘ENDO’ (ESA ILSRA-2009-1026), we found pitting corrosion of metal parts and biofilm formation within the cell-culture devices. The subsequent chemical (spectral assays), instrumental (OGP SmartScope) and microbiological (MALDI-TOF, 16S rRNA gene sequencing) investigations allowed the identification in contaminated material of Paenibacillus glucanolyticus, a ubiq- uitous, aerobic, facultative anaerobic, endospore forming, acid-producing, Gram-positive microorganism. A concurrence of P. glucanolyticus contamination and galvanic corrosion determined massive fouling, rust precipitation and damage to cells and cell-culture devices being, to our knowledge, the association between this microbe and corrosion never reported before in literature. As a consequence of the episode a critical procedure of experiment set up, i.e. hardware sterilization, was modified. The ENDO experiment was successfully launched to the International Space Station on September 2nd 2015 and returned to the PI laboratory on September 13th, with all cell culture samples in optimal condition. Keywords Experiment Sequence Test (EST) · Galvanic corrosion · Human microvascular endothelial cells-1 HMEC-1 · International Space Station · Microbial induced corrosion (MIC) · Paenibacillus glucanolyticus Introduction The execution of space experiments depends on a complex planning with tasks and responsibilities divided between  Debora Angeloni angeloni@santannapisa.it; angeloni@ifc.cnr.it 1 Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Via G. Moruzzi, 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy 2 Department of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy 3 Istituto di Chimica dei Composti OrganoMetallici - UOS Pisa, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via G. Moruzzi, 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy 4 Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno, 37, 56127 Pisa, Italy 5 Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via G. Moruzzi, 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy several participants, fundamentally aiming at preventing safety issues for the space crew and loss of science (Fig. 1). At this purpose, the launch of a space experiment is pre- ceded by at least 1–2 years of integration work (the defini- tion phase), consisting of extensive documentation, testing and training to ensure successful completion of the experi- ment (Sgobba and Rongier 2015). The issuing of a science requirement document called Experiment Science Require- ments (ESR) by the European Space Agency (ESA) marks the beginning of the integration work. Both the Principle Investigator (PI)’s team, for the science perspective, and the User Support and Operations Center (USOC), which coordinates inputs from all partners involved and connects scientists and space agencies, review the ESR. In Europe, seven USOCs act under the supervision of ESA to support scientists in conducting experiments within the International Space Station’s (ISS) infrastructure. Based on the ESR, a schedule is created along with a document named Mission