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Regberg AB, Castro CL, Connolly HC, Davis RE, Dworkin JP, Lauretta DS, Messenger SR, Mclain HL, McCubbin FM, Moore JL, Righter K, Stahl-Rommel S, Castro-Wallace SL. Prokaryotic and Fungal Characterization of the Facilities Used to Assemble, Test, and Launch the OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:530661. [PMID: 33250861 PMCID: PMC7676328 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.530661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
To characterize the ATLO (Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations) environment of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, we analyzed 17 aluminum witness foils and two blanks for bacterial, archaeal, fungal, and arthropod DNA. Under NASA’s Planetary Protection guidelines, OSIRIS-REx is a Category II outbound, Category V unrestricted sample return mission. As a result, it has no bioburden restrictions. However, the mission does have strict organic contamination requirements to achieve its primary objective of returning pristine carbonaceous asteroid regolith to Earth. Its target, near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, is likely to contain organic compounds that are biologically available. Therefore, it is useful to understand what organisms were present during ATLO as part of the larger contamination knowledge effort—even though it is unlikely that any of the organisms will survive the multi-year deep space journey. Even though these samples of opportunity were not collected or preserved for DNA analysis, we successfully amplified bacterial and archaeal DNA (16S rRNA gene) from 16 of the 17 witness foils containing as few as 7 ± 3 cells per sample. Fungal DNA (ITS1) was detected in 12 of the 17 witness foils. Despite observing arthropods in some of the ATLO facilities, arthropod DNA (COI gene) was not detected. We observed 1,009 bacterial and archaeal sOTUs (sub-operational taxonomic units, 100% unique) and 167 fungal sOTUs across all of our samples (25–84 sOTUs per sample). The most abundant bacterial sOTU belonged to the genus Bacillus. This sOTU was present in blanks and may represent contamination during sample handling or storage. The sample collected from inside the fairing just prior to launch contained several unique bacterial and fungal sOTUs that describe previously uncharacterized potential for contamination during the final phase of ATLO. Additionally, fungal richness (number of sOTUs) negatively correlates with the number of carbon-bearing particles detected on samples. The total number of fungal sequences positively correlates with total amino acid concentration. These results demonstrate that it is possible to use samples of opportunity to characterize the microbiology of low-biomass environments while also revealing the limitations imposed by sample collection and preservation methods not specifically designed with biology in mind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron B Regberg
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center, Houston TX, United States
| | | | - Harold C Connolly
- Department of Geology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, United States.,Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - Richard E Davis
- Jacobs@NASA/Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jason P Dworkin
- Astrochemistry Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
| | - Dante S Lauretta
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - Scott R Messenger
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center, Houston TX, United States
| | - Hannah L Mclain
- Astrochemistry Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
| | - Francis M McCubbin
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center, Houston TX, United States
| | - Jamie L Moore
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, United States
| | - Kevin Righter
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center, Houston TX, United States
| | | | - Sarah L Castro-Wallace
- Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences Division, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States
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Dworkin JP, Adelman LA, Ajluni T, Andronikov AV, Aponte JC, Bartels AE, Beshore E, Bierhaus EB, Brucato JR, Bryan BH, Burton AS, Callahan MP, Castro-Wallace SL, Clark BC, Clemett SJ, Connolly HC, Cutlip WE, Daly SM, Elliott VE, Elsila JE, Enos HL, Everett DF, Franchi IA, Glavin DP, Graham HV, Hendershot JE, Harris JW, Hill SL, Hildebrand AR, Jayne GO, Jenkens RW, Johnson KS, Kirsch JS, Lauretta DS, Lewis AS, Loiacono JJ, Lorentson CC, Marshall JR, Martin MG, Matthias LL, McLain HL, Messenger SR, Mink RG, Moore JL, Nakamura-Messenger K, Nuth JA, Owens CV, Parish CL, Perkins BD, Pryzby MS, Reigle CA, Righter K, Rizk B, Russell JF, Sandford SA, Schepis JP, Songer J, Sovinski MF, Stahl SE, Thomas-Keprta K, Vellinga JM, Walker MS. OSIRIS-REx Contamination Control Strategy and Implementation. Space Sci Rev 2018; 214:19. [PMID: 30713357 PMCID: PMC6350808 DOI: 10.1007/s11214-017-0439-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
OSIRIS-REx will return pristine samples of carbonaceous asteroid Bennu. This article describes how pristine was defined based on expectations of Bennu and on a realistic understanding of what is achievable with a constrained schedule and budget, and how that definition flowed to requirements and implementation. To return a pristine sample, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft sampling hardware was maintained at level 100 A/2 and <180 ng/cm2 of amino acids and hydrazine on the sampler head through precision cleaning, control of materials, and vigilance. Contamination is further characterized via witness material exposed to the spacecraft assembly and testing environment as well as in space. This characterization provided knowledge of the expected background and will be used in conjunction with archived spacecraft components for comparison with the samples when they are delivered to Earth for analysis. Most of all, the cleanliness of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was achieved through communication among scientists, engineers, managers, and technicians.
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Affiliation(s)
- J P Dworkin
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - L A Adelman
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Arctic Slope Research Corporation, Beltsville, MD USA
| | - T Ajluni
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Arctic Slope Research Corporation, Beltsville, MD USA
| | | | - J C Aponte
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA
| | - A E Bartels
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - E Beshore
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - E B Bierhaus
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - J R Brucato
- INAF Astrophysical Observatory of Arcetri, Florence, Italy
| | - B H Bryan
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - A S Burton
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | | | - B C Clark
- Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - S J Clemett
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
- Jacobs Technology, Tullahoma, TN, USA
| | | | - W E Cutlip
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - S M Daly
- NASA Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, USA
| | - V E Elliott
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - J E Elsila
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - H L Enos
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - D F Everett
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | | | - D P Glavin
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - H V Graham
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - J E Hendershot
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Ball Aerospace, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - J W Harris
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - S L Hill
- Jacobs Technology, Tullahoma, TN, USA
- NASA Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, USA
| | | | - G O Jayne
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Arctic Slope Research Corporation, Beltsville, MD USA
| | - R W Jenkens
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - K S Johnson
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - J S Kirsch
- Jacobs Technology, Tullahoma, TN, USA
- NASA Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, USA
| | - D S Lauretta
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - A S Lewis
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - J J Loiacono
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - C C Lorentson
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | | | - M G Martin
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA
| | - L L Matthias
- NASA Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, USA
- Analex, Titusville, FL, USA
| | - H L McLain
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - R G Mink
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - J L Moore
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | | | - J A Nuth
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - C V Owens
- NASA Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, USA
| | - C L Parish
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - B D Perkins
- NASA Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, USA
| | - M S Pryzby
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
- ATA Aerospace, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - C A Reigle
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - K Righter
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - B Rizk
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - J F Russell
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - S A Sandford
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
| | - J P Schepis
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - J Songer
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - M F Sovinski
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - S E Stahl
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
- JES Tech., Houston, TX, USA
| | - K Thomas-Keprta
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
- Jacobs Technology, Tullahoma, TN, USA
| | - J M Vellinga
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, CO, USA
| | - M S Walker
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
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