PMID- 24432776
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20141118
LR  - 20140117
IS  - 1557-8070 (Electronic)
IS  - 1557-8070 (Linking)
VI  - 14
IP  - 1
DP  - 2014 Jan
TI  - Implementing planetary protection measures on the Mars Science Laboratory.
PG  - 27-32
LID - 10.1089/ast.2013.0989 [doi]
AB  - The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), comprising a cruise stage; an aeroshell; an 
      entry, descent, and landing system; and the radioisotope thermoelectric 
      generator-powered Curiosity rover, made history with its unprecedented sky crane 
      landing on Mars on August 6, 2012. The mission's primary science objective has 
      been to explore the area surrounding Gale Crater and assess its habitability for 
      past life. Because microbial contamination could profoundly impact the integrity 
      of the mission and compliance with international treaty was required, planetary 
      protection measures were implemented on MSL hardware to verify that bioburden 
      levels complied with NASA regulations. By applying the proper antimicrobial 
      countermeasures throughout all phases of assembly, the total bacterial endospore 
      burden of MSL at the time of launch was kept to 2.78x10(5) spores, well within the 
      required specification of less than 5.0x10(5) spores. The total spore burden of the 
      exposed surfaces of the landed MSL hardware was 5.64x10(4), well below the allowed 
      limit of 3.0x10(5) spores. At the time of launch, the MSL spacecraft was burdened 
      with an average of 22 spores/m(2), which included both planned landed and planned 
      impacted hardware. Here, we report the results of a campaign to implement and 
      verify planetary protection measures on the MSL flight system.
FAU - Benardini, James N 3rd
AU  - Benardini JN 3rd
AD  - Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 
      California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California.
FAU - La Duc, Myron T
AU  - La Duc MT
FAU - Beaudet, Robert A
AU  - Beaudet RA
FAU - Koukol, Robert
AU  - Koukol R
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PL  - United States
TA  - Astrobiology
JT  - Astrobiology
JID - 101088083
SB  - IM
MH  - Bacteria/isolation & purification
MH  - *Containment of Biohazards
MH  - Equipment Contamination
MH  - *Extraterrestrial Environment
MH  - *Laboratories
MH  - *Mars
MH  - *Spacecraft
EDAT- 2014/01/18 06:00
MHDA- 2014/11/19 06:00
CRDT- 2014/01/18 06:00
PHST- 2014/01/18 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/01/18 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2014/11/19 06:00 [medline]
AID - 10.1089/ast.2013.0989 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Astrobiology. 2014 Jan;14(1):27-32. doi: 10.1089/ast.2013.0989.