This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Bio-Barriers: Protecting Extraterrestrial Bodies and Exploration Instruments from Terrestrial Microbiological Contamination
Technical Paper
2007-01-3109
ISSN: 0148-7191, e-ISSN: 2688-3627
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
A small team of engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Inistitute of Technology (CalTech) have developed a unique capability to control terrestrial microbial contamination on instruments to be used for detection of biosignatures on extraterrestrial bodies during exploration missions. The team has developed bio-barrier designs to enclose instruments during sterilization process and to protect them from subsequent recontamination until such instrument arrives at its destination. Once there, the bio-barrier would deploy to allow the instruments to perform their function. Two types of bio-barrier designs were considered; one for dry heat microbial reduction application and the other for vapor hydrogen peroxide application. For both applications, extensive material testing was performed to select the bio-barrier material. Detailed mechanical design, including environmental analysis, was performed to produce the prototype hardware for both designs. Environmental and deployment testing were also performed using the prototype. One of the bio-barrier designs has been adopted for flight application by the upcoming Mars Scout Phoenix '07 mission. The results of these technology development studies provide the foundation for a new paradigm for low mass, low cost, planetary protection/ contamination control mechanisms that focus on protecting particular instrument elements rather than entire spacecraft hard shell barriers as done during the Viking program.
Recommended Content
Authors
- Yuki Salinas - Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
- Wayne Zimmerman - Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
- Eric Kulczycki - Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
- Shirley Chung - Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
- Tanya Cholakian - Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
- Fei Chen - Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
Citation
Salinas, Y., Zimmerman, W., Kulczycki, E., Chung, S. et al., "Bio-Barriers: Protecting Extraterrestrial Bodies and Exploration Instruments from Terrestrial Microbiological Contamination," SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-3109, 2007, https://doi.org/10.4271/2007-01-3109.Also In
References
- Zimmerman, W. et. al. “The Mars 07 North Polar Cap Deep Penetration Cryo-Scout Mission,” IEEE paper #15, 2002 IEEE Aerospace Conference Big Sky Montana March 9-16 2002
- Smith, P. et. al. “The Phoenix Mission to Mars,” IEEE paper #1316, 2004 IEEE Aerospace Conference Big Sky Montana March 6-13 2004
- Planetary Protection Provisions for Robotic Extraterrestrial Missions NASA Procedural Requirements 8020.12C National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2001
- Rohatgi, N. et. al. Material Compatibility Testing with Hydrogen Peroxide 2001