Microbial contamination associated with the Apollo 6 spacecraft during final assembly and testing

Puleo, J. R.; Fields, N. D.; Moore, Brooke M.; Graves, Randolph

doi:10.1007/bf00928955

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Other reports described the presence of bacteria on the surfaces of the internal parts of the space laboratory (20,21). It was unlikely that only the wall we tested was biologically clean.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Bacterial Population in Russian Space Station “Mir”

Kawamura

Liu

et al. 2001

Microbiology and Immunology

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Abstract:We had the opportunity to investigate the bacterial population in air samples, condensation water, and inner wall swabs from the Russian space station Mir. From the first and second air samples during the mission, 29 and 7 bacterial colonies were collected, respectively. The values were equivalent to 16.8 and 4.0 cfull00 liter air, respectively. Condensation water was collected from three different sites. The total viable bacterial counts were 2.1 X 10·, 5.2 X 10\ and 3.0 X 10 1 cfulml. The phylogenetic position of each isolate was determined by total16S rDNA sequencing. Bacteria from air samples were mainly Gram-positive (35/36 colonies),and staphylococci occupied dominant specifically (23/36 colonies). On the other hand, Gram-negative bacteria were mainly isolated from condensation water samples. Most strains were thought to be opportunistic pathogens or environmental bacteria (such as those that inhabit soil, water, or air) found on earth. However, 6 of 23 isolates were suspected to be new species according to phylogenetic analysis and quantitative DNA-DNA hybridization data. The isolation of the other levels 3 and 2 bacteria, using specific selective media, was unsuccessful because all samples were heavily contaminated with fungi. To overcome this situation, PCR methods were applied to survey most levels 3 and 2 pathogenic bacteria in the eondensation water samples. Up to 380 different primers for bacterial pathogens were used in this study. Only Mycobacterium avium 16S DNA sequences, however, could be amplified from the three water samples. The average bacteria count was estimated to be about 10 4 organisms Iml water.Key words: 16S rRNA, DNA-DNA hybridization, Space station Mir, Extreme environment An international space station is currently being constructed that will be completed in 2006. After its completion, many people will work in the space laboratory for a long time until the end of their own mission. They will face unfavorable conditions, such as radiation, zero gravity, and a closed environment, which will affect their immunological competence. Furthermore, the laboratory will be used to conduct biological experiments. The accumulation of data on the microbial population in a closed space laboratory is important for monitoring the health conditions of astronauts and designing future biological experiments.Few reports from Japanese researchers described the inside environment of the space laboratory, but some did recently publish .one report that described fungal flora in space station through the same project with this study (12). The bacterial population inside a space station or spacecraft had been studied by American and Russian researchers in the 1970s (23). However, they determined the bacterial population by using the method *Addresscorrespondence to Dr. Yoshiaki Kawamura, Department of Microbiology, Gifu University School of Medicine, 40 Tsukasa-machi, Gifu, Gifu 500-8705, Japan. Fax: 81-58-267-0156. E-mail: kawamura@cc.gifu-u.ac.jp 819 of identification level; they did not investig...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Bacterial Population in Russian Space Station “Mir”

Kawamura

Liu

et al. 2001

Microbiology and Immunology

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“…Sixteen aluminum trays (17.8 cm wide, 188 cm long, and 102 cm high), each containing two 7.6-by 183-cm (0.139 i2) ribbons of Teflon (5 mil FEP Dupont), intended to simulate spacecraft surfaces, were used as collection surfaces in the Low Bay area of the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), a class 100,000 clean room (17). This area was used for the assembly and testing of the Apollo spacecraft (18)(19)(20).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it has been pointed out that B. subtilis var. niger spores have never been detected on spacecraft (4,(17)(18)(19)(20). Bond and co-workers (3, 4) have shown that naturally occurring bacterial spores in soil are significantly more resistant to dry heat than B. subtilis var.…”

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confidence: 99%

Method for Collecting Naturally Occurring Airborne Bacterial Spores for Determining Their Thermal Resistance

Puleo

Favero

Oxborrow

et al. 1975

Applied Microbiology

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“…Sixteen stainless steel tables (17.8 cm wide, 188 cm long, and 102 cm high), each containing two 7.6-by 183-cm (0.139 m2) ribbons of Teflon (5 mil [ca. 0.0254 mm], FEP Dupont), intended to simulate spacecraft surfaces, were used as collection surfaces for naturally occurring airborne spores in the MSOB, a class 100,000 clean room (19), and in the VAB, representative of an assembly area. The Teflon ribbons were cleaned by washing in hot tap water plus detergent (Haemo-Sol, Heinecke & Co., Inc.), rinsed three times in hot tap water, rinsed in distilled water, drained dry, and sterilized for 3 h at 175°C.…”

Section: Materials and Metmodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal resistance of naturally occurring airborne bacterial spores

Puleo

Bergström

Peeler

et al. 1978

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Simulation of a heat process used in the terminal dry-heat decontamination of the Viking spacecraft is reported. Naturally occurring airborne bacterial spores were collected on Teflon ribbons in selected spacecraft assembly areas and subsequently subjected to dry heat. Thermal inactivation experiments were conducted at 105, 111.7, 120, 125, 130, and 135 degrees C with a moisture level of 1.2 mg of water per liter. Heat survivors were recovered at temperatures of 135 degrees C when a 30-h heating cycle was employed. Survivors were recovered from all cycles studied and randomly selected for identification. The naturally occurring spore population was reduced an average of 2.2 to 4.4 log cycles from 105 to 135 degrees C. Heating cycles of 5 and 15 h at temperature were compared with the standard 30-h cycle at 111.7, 120, and 125 degrees C. No significant differences in inactivation (alpha = 0.05) were observed between 111.7 and 120 degrees C. The 30-h cycle differs from the 5-and 15-h cycles at 125 degrees C. Thus, the heating cycle can be reduced if a small fraction (about 10-3 to 10-4) of very resistant spores can be tolerated.

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Microbial contamination associated with the Apollo 6 spacecraft during final assembly and testing

Cited by 17 publications

References 2 publications

Bacterial Population in Russian Space Station “Mir”

Bacterial Population in Russian Space Station “Mir”

Method for Collecting Naturally Occurring Airborne Bacterial Spores for Determining Their Thermal Resistance

Thermal resistance of naturally occurring airborne bacterial spores

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