Quantitative and Qualitative Microbiological Profiles of the Apollo 10 and 11 Spacecraft

Puleo, J. R.; Oxborrow, Gordon S.; Fields, N. D.; Hall, Herbert E.

doi:10.1128/aem.20.3.384-389.1970

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…From wall smears, no colony was observed under our incubation conditions. 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: 88%

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: 88%

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). The Teflon ribbons were cleaned by washing in hot tap water plus detergent (Haemo-Sol, Meinecke & Co., Inc.), rinsed three times in hot tap water, rinsed in distilled water, and drained dry.…”

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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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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“…A wipe-rinse technique which uses a rayon cloth (14) for the microbiological assay of skin was not applicable due to the physical properties of the material which prohibits its use on spacecraft surfaces or in clean room environments. Microbial sampling of spacecraft surfaces (18)(19)(20)(21)(22) has, therefore, been restricted to the use of the swab-rinse technique. The cotton swab method, although adopted as standard procedure by the American Public Health Association (1), has several disadvantages.…”

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confidence: 99%

Wipe-rinse technique for quantitating microbial contamination on large surfaces

Kirschner¹,

Puleo²

1979

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The evaluation of an improved wipe-rinse technique for the bioassay of large areas was undertaken due to inherent inadequacies in the cotton swab-rinse technique to which assay of spacecraft is currently restricted. Four types of contamination control cloths were initially tested. A polyester-bonded cloth (PBC) was selected for further evaluation because of its superior efficiency and handling characteristics. Results from comparative tests with PBC and cotton swabs on simulated spacecraft surfaces indicated a significantly higher recovery efficiency for the PBC than for the cotton (90.4 versus 75.2%). Of the sampling area sites studied, PBC was found to be most effective on surface areas not exceeding 0.74 m2 (8.0 feet2).

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Quantitative and Qualitative Microbiological Profiles of the Apollo 10 and 11 Spacecraft

Cited by 27 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

Wipe-rinse technique for quantitating microbial contamination on large surfaces

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