Microbial biodiversity assessment of the European Space Agency's ExoMars 2016 mission.

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

SUBMITTER: Koskinen K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5657055 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature