Monitoring of initial stages of the biodamage of construction materials used in aerospace equipment using electron microscopy

The biocorrosion activity of microorganisms extracted from the Mir Space Station and the Russian segment of the International Space Station was estimated with respect to the aluminum-magnesium alloy AMg-6 used in space equipment. Thirty-six cultures belonging to 28 species were analyzed. As test objects, 180 AMg-6 samples with mechanically treated, anodized, and chemically polished surfaces were used. Almost all the studied microorganism species were technophiles capable of causing corrosion changes in the surface even protected by anodizing or chemical polishing. Mechanically treated samples were biocorroded to a greater extent. The most aggressive technophilic microorganisms caused stronger surface changes in comparison with chemical corrosion: surface oxidation, pitting, and cracking were observed.