Originally published August 2 2005
NASA to try to prevent Mars contamination
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Over the next ten years NASA will implement new measures to make sure Earth-born bacteria are not passed to Mars during space shuttle flights.
Recent scientific findings suggest that liquid water could be present at many locations on Mars and that some organisms on Earth might survive in extreme, Mars-like conditions -- such as very low temperatures and high salt concentrations.
"Ongoing Mars missions have shown that the planet may have environments where some Earth microbes could grow," said Christopher F. Chyba, committee chair and professor of astrophysics and international affairs at Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. "Although we don't know for sure if this could happen, we need to understand whether liquid water exists in Martian near-surface environments, as well as the nature of microorganisms that are in our clean rooms and spacecraft.
NASA currently uses screening techniques that detect heat-resistant and spore-forming bacteria on spacecraft and then reduces their numbers by cleaning the spacecraft and, in certain circumstances, baking components with dry heat.
But these screening methods are not designed to give a comprehensive tally of the microbes present on the spacecraft, and dry heat can be applied only to spacecraft materials that can withstand high temperatures, the report notes.
NASA should sponsor new research efforts aimed at preventing Mars contamination, the committee said, such as new techniques for detecting biological molecules that do not require time for growing laboratory cultures and could speed spacecraft sterilization and assembly in clean rooms.
Also, methods that determine genetic sequences of organisms and link them to known microbial species could allow NASA to tailor sterilization techniques toward spacecraft contaminants of greatest concern.
NASA should also investigate alternative cleaning methods -- such as the use of radiation or vapor disinfectants -- for their effectiveness in killing different types of microorganisms and for their effects on various spacecraft materials.
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