New Insights about Cross-Contamination Procedures for Analogue Missions in Space Exploration
Abstract
Environments such as the surface of other planets like Mars are subject to contamination processes by human exploration. Therefore, this is a crucial issue for planetary protection which needs to be addressed before investigating possible extraterrestrial life forms. Within AustroMars, the module track & trace assessed the dimension of back- and forward contamination which was verifiable in both directions. Sterile filters which were exposed to the environment during repeated EVAs showed persistent contaminations with bacteria. On-site contamination within the habitat was checked by exposed agar plates which were all positive with cultivable strains. The second module LiMa ("Life on Mars") simulates sterile procedures to collect samples with subsequent cultivation efforts under harsh conditions. These modules have been accomplished under high fidelity conditions and are the first analogue experiments conducted within the background of space exploration.
- Publication:
-
Mars2030 - AustroMars Science Workshop
- Pub Date:
- October 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007amsw.conf...13S