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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1971

Environmental microbiology as related to planetary quarantine

The experiments carried out to determine the effects of temperature and relative humidity on the survival rate of Bacillus subtillis var. niger spores are reported. The experiments were conducted in environmental chambers at temperatures of 75 and 90 C. Data are also included on the survival characteristics of the spores suspended in sucrose solutions at 90 C with water activities of 0.99, 0.9, and 0.85

Pflug, I. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Continued Environmental Microbiology Monitoring of the International Space Station (ISS) Veggie Unit Used for In-Flight, Crop-Based Food Systems

Crewmembers live and work in a closed environment that is monitored to ensure their health and safety. To ensure occupants’ health and safety during their spaceflight residency, Environmental Health System (EHS) microbial samples including air, surface, and water, are collected, enumerated, and analyzed quarterly to monitor on-board system contamination and potential risks to crew health. Quarterly monitoring of the microorganisms in the ISS environment supports crew safety and contributes to a large set of microbial concentration and diversity data. Based upon data historically collected over the years, in-flight microbial requirements have been established to maintain the health and safety of the spacecraft environment. This study leverages quarterly operational Environmental Health System (EHS) sampling by collecting additional microbial samples from the surface of the station’s Veggie plant production system. Microbial surface samples collected from the Veggie plant production system will yield microbial concentration and diversity that can be compared and analyzed with nominal surface samples from the vehicle. The data collected in this study will aid in the development of requirements for spaceflight-based food production systems. Continued surface sampling of the internal and external surfaces of the Veggie locker, along with collaboration from both Johnson Space Center (JSC) & Kennedy Space Center (KSC) scientists studying the microbiome of the veggie-crop systems, will be implemented as part of the future development of crop-based food system requirements for the ISS and beyond. This presentation will include a review of the study procedures and evaluations of the current results.

Christian Mena↗
NASA NTRS2022

2022 Annual Report: Culture-Based Environmental Microbiology Monitoring of Crop-based Space Food Systems (Veggie Monitoring)

Crewmembers live and work in a closed environment that is monitored to ensure their health and safety. Quarterly monitoring of the microorganisms in the International Space Station (ISS) environment supports crew safety and contributes to a large set of environmental microbial data from the air, surface, and water samples that are collected. This study leverages quarterly operational Environmental Health System (EHS) sampling by collecting additional microbial samples from the surface of the station’s Veggie plant production system. Longer exploration missions may require spaceflight-based systems for growth of plants, and this investigation is expected to provide additional data to help establish requirements to protect these systems, plants, and crew, mitigating adverse microbial exposure.

Tanner Hamilton↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Continued Environmental Microbiology Monitoring of The International Space Station (ISS) Veggie Unit Used for In-Flight, Crop-Based Food Systems

The International Space Station is a closed environment where rotating sets of Crewmembers live and work. This environment is monitored to ensure occupants’ health and safety during their spaceflight residency by routine Environmental Health System (EHS) collection of microbial samples including air, surface, and water. The microbial samples are collected, enumerated, and analyzed quarterly to monitor on-board system contamination and potential risks to crew health. Quarterly monitoring of the microorganisms in the ISS environment supports crew safety and contributes to a large set of microbial concentration and diversity data. The current in-inflight microbial requirements were developed using this historical data collected by the routine environmental monitoring. These in-flight microbial requirements have been established to maintain the health and safety of the spacecraft environment. This study leverages quarterly operational EHS sampling by collecting additional microbial samples from the surface of the Veggie plant production system on ISS. These samples will yield microbial concentration and diversity that can be compared and analyzed with nominal surface samples from the vehicle. The data collected in this study will aid in the development of requirements for spaceflight-based food production systems. Continued surface sampling of the internal and external surfaces of the Veggie system, along with collaboration from both Johnson Space Center (JSC) & Kennedy Space Center (KSC) scientists studying the microbiome of the veggie-crop systems, will be implemented as part of the future development of crop-based food system requirements for the ISS and beyond.

Christian Mena↗
NASA NTRS2020

Culture-Based Environmental Microbiology Monitoring of Crop-Based Space Food Systems (veggie Monitoring)

Crewmembers live and work in a closed environment that is monitored to ensure their health and safety. Quarterly monitoring of the microorganisms in the International Space Station (ISS) environment supports crew safety and contributes to a large set of microbial concentration and diversity data from air, surfaces and water samples. This study leverages quarterly operational Environmental Health System (EHS) sampling by collecting additional microbial samples from the surface of the station’s Veggie plant production system. Longer exploration missions may require spaceflight-based systems for growth of plants, and this investigation is expected to provide additional data to help establish requirements to protect these systems, plants, and crew, mitigating adverse microbial exposure.

Hamilton, Tanner↗
NASA NTRS1972

Environmental microbiology as related to planetary quarantine

The experimental design of a study to evaluate the effect of different cleaning methods and storage conditions on the dry heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores is described and the results for the first evaluation are reported. Specifically, the synergistic effect which occurs when spores are subjected simultaneously to dry heat and gamma radiation so as to be able to specify thermoradiation sterilization cycles was investigated. Attempts were made to understand the underlying mechanism(s) that lead to spore death from this combination of stresses. Data cover: (1) the survival of spores on surfaces at various temperatures in a precisely controlled environmental system, (2) the rate of destruction of these spores at ambient temperature when subjected to gamma radiation, and (3) the rate of destruction of spores when they are subjected to combined gamma radiation and thermal stresses.

Pflug, I. J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Planned Environmental Microbiology Aspects of Future Lunar and Mars Missions

With the establishment of the Constellation Program, NASA has initiated efforts designed similar to the Apollo Program to return to the moon and subsequently travel to Mars. Early lunar sorties will take 4 crewmembers to the moon for 4 to 7 days. Later missions will increase in duration up to 6 months as a lunar habitat is constructed. These missions and vehicle designs are the forerunners of further missions destined for human exploration of Mars. Throughout the planning and design process, lessons learned from the International Space Station (ISS) and past programs will be implemented toward future exploration goals. The standards and requirements for these missions will vary depending on life support systems, mission duration, crew activities, and payloads. From a microbiological perspective, preventative measures will remain the primary techniques to mitigate microbial risk. Thus, most of the effort will focus on stringent preflight monitoring requirements and engineering controls designed into the vehicle, such as HEPA air filters. Due to volume constraints in the CEV, in-flight monitoring will be limited for short-duration missions to the measurement of biocide concentration for water potability. Once long-duration habitation begins on the lunar surface, a more extensive environmental monitoring plan will be initiated. However, limited in-flight volume constraints and the inability to return samples to Earth will increase the need for crew capabilities in determining the nature of contamination problems and method of remediation. In addition, limited shelf life of current monitoring hardware consumables and limited capabilities to dispose of biohazardous trash will drive flight hardware toward non-culture based methodologies, such as hardware that rapidly distinguishes biotic versus abiotic surface contamination. As missions progress to Mars, environmental systems will depend heavily on regeneration of air and water and biological waste remediation and regeneration systems, increasing the need for environmental monitoring. Almost complete crew autonomy will be needed for assessment and remediation of contamination problems. Cabin capacity will be limited; thus, current methods of microbial monitoring will be inadequate. Future methodology must limit consumables, and these consumables must have a shelf life of over three years. In summary, missions to the moon and Mars will require a practical design that prudently uses available resources to mitigate microbial risk to the crew.

Ott, C. Mark↗
NASA NTRS1971

Environmental microbiology as related to planetary quarantine

The results of studies to determine the effect of soil particle size on the survival time at 125 C of the microflora associated with these particles are discussed. The data suggest that longer survival times exist for the microflora associated with larger particles. The studies indicate that microorganisms associated with soil are difficult to kill and that organisms associated with large particles are harder to kill than those associated with small particles. Sterlization requirements increase as the level of contamination increases. Soil particles and their accompanying microflora are the most critical contaminants.

Iflug, I. J.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Environmental microbiology as related to planetary quarantine

The survival of Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores suspended in solutions of sucrose and glycerol at calculated water activities and varying temperatures was studied. The overall results indicated that as the water activity of the liquid decreased from .99 to .85, the heat resistance of the spores increased. The nature of the substance controlling the water activity, and the history of the spores prior to treatment also had an affect on their heat resistance.

Pflug, I. J.↗