Philosophy
Cleanliness in space and materials and samples brought back is a critical aspect of space exploration. Being responsible travelers and explorers in space we don't want to contaminate alien environments. And we certainly don't want any contamination of the samples that are returned to Earth for analysis. If we are careless there, then the whole value of any mission would be worthless: Bad data and false conclusions including the time and costs of the mission. Thus great effort has been made to make our trips of humans, probes, tools, collection apparatus, etc. as contamination free as possible. Think back to Robert Wise's 1971 film "The Andromeda Strain" when the selected investigation crew had to endure hours of decontamination of their bodies to enter a safe area to scientifically discover the deadly alien biological anomaly that occurred on the surface and the attempts to isolate the only two survivors in an environment free of contamination. And as current and real as of the 9th of September when the Genesis probe will return to Earth loaded with solar dust; the containment of the samples will be placed in the highest contamination environment possible: "Genesis is the first NASA mission to develop a class 10 cleanroom (only 10 particles of contaminant per cubic meter)." And the situation works the other way: Squeaky clean items placed in space are desired and accidents do happen. On April 20, 1967 the Surveyor 3 spacecraft landed on the moon with a strain of Streptococcus mitis on board. The bacteria is common and harmless: Someone must have sneezed and there was a breech in the quest for a "zero contamination" assembly environment. The freeloader was discovered when in 1969 the Apollo 12 astronauts retrieved a sample of some circuit board insulation and brought it home for analysis. Now the bacteria was free-dried on the Moon's surface but rebounded back on Earth. Maybe no harm done on the Moon, but extra care must be exercised when visiting systems that would sustain any bacteria and allow reproduction. As a matter of fact, many scientists don't think a "zero contamination" system is possible. Consider also that contamination can be inorganic. And from an epistemological perspective, data received from contaminated materials is always suspect. The recent Genesis crash is a prime example. Certification of the purity of samples is nearly impossible.
- Martian Samples...great Idea...better Than Manned Missions
"Mars Sample Return Container" by Keith Cowing October 29th, 2013 SpaceREF This spherical container has been engineered to house the most scientifically valuable cargo imaginable: samples brought back from the Red Planet. Still probably many...
- Curiosity Could Jeopardize Data By Contanination
"If the Mars rover finds water, it could be H2 ... uh oh!" If Curiosity locates H2O, a simmering NASA controversy will boil over. The rover's drill bits may be tainted with Earth microbes that could survive upon touching water. by Louis Sahagun...
- Contamination Beyond Microscopic
Contamination of other worlds is not limited to microbes...think of mankind himself. "NASA Needs New Plan to Avoid Contaminating Other Worlds" by Ars Technica April 19th, 2012 Wired Over the past several decades, there’s been a stunning revolution...
- Some Of The Original 842 Pounds Is Missing
"Hundreds of NASA moon rock samples are missing or stolen" by Shane McGlaun December 9th, 2011 SlashGear With every bit of the moon rock and soil samples on Earth having been brought back by NASA missions to the moon they are all considered government...
- “genesis Rock”
Almost 40 years ago this day [July 30th, 19171] Apollo 15 landed on the Moon. And one of the items brought back to Earth was the so-called “Genesis Rock” which after analysis was dated to be 4.5 billion years old making it almost as old as the solar...
Philosophy
Cleanliness...
Cleanliness in space and materials and samples brought back is a critical aspect of space exploration. Being responsible travelers and explorers in space we don't want to contaminate alien environments. And we certainly don't want any contamination of the samples that are returned to Earth for analysis. If we are careless there, then the whole value of any mission would be worthless: Bad data and false conclusions including the time and costs of the mission. Thus great effort has been made to make our trips of humans, probes, tools, collection apparatus, etc. as contamination free as possible. Think back to Robert Wise's 1971 film "The Andromeda Strain" when the selected investigation crew had to endure hours of decontamination of their bodies to enter a safe area to scientifically discover the deadly alien biological anomaly that occurred on the surface and the attempts to isolate the only two survivors in an environment free of contamination. And as current and real as of the 9th of September when the Genesis probe will return to Earth loaded with solar dust; the containment of the samples will be placed in the highest contamination environment possible: "Genesis is the first NASA mission to develop a class 10 cleanroom (only 10 particles of contaminant per cubic meter)." And the situation works the other way: Squeaky clean items placed in space are desired and accidents do happen. On April 20, 1967 the Surveyor 3 spacecraft landed on the moon with a strain of Streptococcus mitis on board. The bacteria is common and harmless: Someone must have sneezed and there was a breech in the quest for a "zero contamination" assembly environment. The freeloader was discovered when in 1969 the Apollo 12 astronauts retrieved a sample of some circuit board insulation and brought it home for analysis. Now the bacteria was free-dried on the Moon's surface but rebounded back on Earth. Maybe no harm done on the Moon, but extra care must be exercised when visiting systems that would sustain any bacteria and allow reproduction. As a matter of fact, many scientists don't think a "zero contamination" system is possible. Consider also that contamination can be inorganic. And from an epistemological perspective, data received from contaminated materials is always suspect. The recent Genesis crash is a prime example. Certification of the purity of samples is nearly impossible.- Martian Samples...great Idea...better Than Manned Missions
"Mars Sample Return Container" by Keith Cowing October 29th, 2013 SpaceREF This spherical container has been engineered to house the most scientifically valuable cargo imaginable: samples brought back from the Red Planet. Still probably many...
- Curiosity Could Jeopardize Data By Contanination
"If the Mars rover finds water, it could be H2 ... uh oh!" If Curiosity locates H2O, a simmering NASA controversy will boil over. The rover's drill bits may be tainted with Earth microbes that could survive upon touching water. by Louis Sahagun...
- Contamination Beyond Microscopic
Contamination of other worlds is not limited to microbes...think of mankind himself. "NASA Needs New Plan to Avoid Contaminating Other Worlds" by Ars Technica April 19th, 2012 Wired Over the past several decades, there’s been a stunning revolution...
- Some Of The Original 842 Pounds Is Missing
"Hundreds of NASA moon rock samples are missing or stolen" by Shane McGlaun December 9th, 2011 SlashGear With every bit of the moon rock and soil samples on Earth having been brought back by NASA missions to the moon they are all considered government...
- “genesis Rock”
Almost 40 years ago this day [July 30th, 19171] Apollo 15 landed on the Moon. And one of the items brought back to Earth was the so-called “Genesis Rock” which after analysis was dated to be 4.5 billion years old making it almost as old as the solar...