Let's face it: wherever we go, we will inevitably carry along the little critters that live in and on us. Conventional wisdom has long held that it's unlikely those critters could survive the space environment, but in 2007 microscopic animals called Tardigrades survived exposure to space and in 2008 Cyanobacteria lived for 548 days outside the International Space Station (ISS). But what about the organisms we might reasonably expect a crewed spacecraft to leak or vent? Do we even know what they are? How long might our tiny hitch-hikers survive in close proximity to a warm spacecraft that periodically leaks/vents water or oxygen-and how might they mutate with long-duration exposure? Unlike the Mars rovers that we cleaned once and sent on their way, crew members will provide a constantly regenerating contaminant source. Are we prepared to certify that we can meet forward contamination protocols as we search for life at new destinations?
Center Innovation Fund: JSC CIF Characterize Human Forward Contamination
2017-12-20
Miscellaneous
No indication
English
NASA Innovation Framework and Center Innovation Fund
NTRS | 2018
|NASA Innovation Framework and Center Innovation Fund
NTIS | 2018
|Abstracts of FY2016 Center Innovation Fund (CIF)
NTRS | 2016
|Human Forward Contamination Strategic Plan
NTRS | 2015
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