3/24/2023 0 Comments Best spore creations spaceshipsThese organisms have increased numbers of genes for DNA repair, giving them greater resistance against radiation, they can form biofilms on surfaces and equipment, can survive desiccation and thrive in cold environments. In JPL's clean rooms, we found evidence of microbes that have the potential to be problematic during space missions. Since we can now sequence all the DNA that is present in the clean rooms, and not just the ones that could be cultured, we get a more comprehensive look at what kind of microbes can be found in the clean room, and if they could even survive the vacuum of space. Each piece (or sequence "read") can then be mapped back to the known genomes of species that are already present in sequence databases. As the term implies, it is like taking a shotgun to the cells of a sample, blasting them into billions of small DNA fragments, and then sequencing each piece. The newer methods used by my colleagues and I take a given sample, extract all the DNA, and then "shotgun" sequence it. In the past, tests for biological contamination have relied upon the ability to grow (often called culturing) life from samples swabbed from equipment. Some can sneak through even the cleanest of clean rooms. They are inside us, on our bodies, and all around us. Microbes have been on Earth for billions of years, and they are everywhere. These are designed to ensure that only a few hundred particles can contaminate each square foot and ideally no more than a few dozen spores per square metre.īut, it is almost impossible to get to zero biomass on a spacecraft. Spacecraft are built rooms with air filters and strict biological control procedures. These methods limit the bacteria, viruses, fungi, or spores on equipment to be sent on a mission. There, spacecraft are painstakingly built one layer at a time, like an onion, with everything cleaned before it is added. Yet, two recent studies highlight how some organisms might survive the cleaning process and also the trip to Mars, and also how fast microbial species can evolve while in space.įirst, let's start with the process that was required to build the Perseverance rover, as well as most spacecraft made in JPL's spacecraft assembly facility (SAF). Internationally agreed standards guide how rigorous these protocols should be and Nasa meets, and in some cases, exceeds them. Nasa and its engineers in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have precise and thorough protocols to minimise the number of organisms that might inadvertently hitchhike on a space mission. The helicopter, called Ingenuity, has now made three successful flights, each longer and higher than the last.īut did anything else come along for a ride with all this hardware? Could a trace bacterium or spore from Earth have accidentally been carried into space and survived the trip to make its new home on Mars? Included on board the 10ft-long (3m) rover is a machine that has turned the thin, carbon dioxide-rich Martian air into oxygen and a helicopter the size of a tissue box that made the first-ever powered, controlled flight on another planet. Perseverance – the car-sized rover that safely touched down on the Martian surface on 18 February this year – might only have a top speed of less than 0.1 miles per hour (152m/hr), but it carries a wide range of tools, instruments, and experiments that have already made some groundbreaking achievements. Trundling across the surface of Mars as you read this is a remarkable machine.
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