Koskinen, Kaisa and Rettberg, Petra and Pukall, Ruediger and Auerbach, Anna and Wink, Lisa and Barczyk, Simon and Perras, Alexandra and Mahnert, Alexander and Margheritis, Diana and Kminek, Gerhard and Moissl-Eichinger, Christine (2017) Microbial biodiversity assessment of the European Space Agency's ExoMars 2016 mission. MICROBIOME, 5: 143. ISSN 2049-2618,
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Background: The ExoMars 2016 mission, consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander, was launched on March 14 2016 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan and reached its destination in October 2016. The Schiaparelli lander was subject to strict requirements for microbial cleanliness according to the obligatory planetary protection policy. To reach the required cleanliness, the ExoMars 2016 flight hardware was assembled in a newly built, biocontrolled cleanroom complex at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. In this study, we performed microbiological surveys of the cleanroom facilities and the spacecraft hardware before and during the assembly, integration and testing (AIT) activities. Methods: Besides the European Space Agency (ESA) standard bioburden assay, that served as a proxy for the microbiological contamination in general, we performed various alternative cultivation assays and utilised molecular techniques, including quantitative PCR and next generation sequencing, to assess the absolute and relative abundance and broadest diversity of microorganisms and their signatures in the cleanroom and on the spacecraft hardware. Results: Our results show that the bioburden, detected microbial contamination and microbial diversity decreased continuously after the cleanroom was decontaminated with more effective cleaning agents and during the ongoing AIT. The studied cleanrooms and change room were occupied by very distinct microbial communities: Overall, the change room harboured a higher number and diversity of microorganisms, including Propionibacterium, which was found to be significantly increased in the change room. In particular, the so called alternative cultivation assays proved important in detecting a broader cultivable diversity than covered by the standard bioburden assay and thus completed the picture on the cleanroom microbiota. Conclusion: During the whole project, the bioburden stayed at acceptable level and did not raise any concern for the ExoMars 2016 mission. The cleanroom complex at Thales Alenia Space in Turin is an excellent example of how efficient microbiological control is performed.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ARTIFICIAL METEORITES; PLANETARY PROTECTION; ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY; EXPOSE-E; SURVIVAL; SPORES; MICROORGANISMS; METHANE; MARS; IDENTIFICATION; ExoMars; Planetary protection; Life-detection; Astrobiology; Cleanroom microbiota |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 580 Botanical sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Biochemie, Genetik und Mikrobiologie > Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Dec 2018 13:19 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Feb 2019 15:25 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/1986 |
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