A Ground Support Biobarrier (GSB) for recontamination prevention

Abstract

Planetary Protection organizations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and other space agencies around the world are charged with protecting icy moons and Mars Special Regions, areas that carry an increased potential for life, from Earth biological contamination. During the spacecraft assembly process subsystems undergo functional testing, a task that verifies critical components can survive from launch through the duration of the mission. Despite efforts to keep spacecraft clean during these ground testing operations, as well as during transportation, recontamination frequently occurs and results in the need to re-clean the spacecraft, putting stress on the spacecraft assembly critical path. In response, the Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group (BPPG) at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has designed a Ground Support Biobarrier (GSB) capable of protecting flight hardware continuously from an up-to 150 °C Heat Microbial Reduction (HMR) sterilization through hardware integration with the spacecraft, itself. The biobarrier consists of aluminum brackets bolted together and covered with thin aluminum sheets sealed via epoxy. The base plate of the biobarrier contains bolt connections and a gasket to ensure that all venting is through the HEPA-filtered vent when the biobarrier is closed. Additionally, the GSB allows for vapor hydrogen peroxide (VHP) sterilization as well as the ability to functionally test hardware without opening the barrier. The GSB provides a safety-net against microbiological re-contamination during critical functional testing, decreasing the need for re-cleaning and reducing schedule impact risk.