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Bacterial endospores are ubiquitous in terrestrial environments as a result of their ability to persist through environmental extremes of moisture, chemical toxins, pressure, heat and UV radiation. Current studies suggest that Airborne Endospore Bioburden (AEB) may be used as an indicator of spacecraft cleanliness. AEB, as measured in closed environment air sampling under laboratory conditions and in the Environmental Control and Life Support System at Marshall Space Flight Center, has indicated that increased total counts of airborne endospores can be correlated to surface microbial contamination. Advanced detection methods using PDMS sampling techniques, the highly sensitive terbium-dipicolinic acid (Tb3+-DPA) endospore assay, and standard microbial monitoring methods can be used to track trends in the settling of airborne spores.

One of the key questions addressed in the field of Astrobiology is based upon the assumption that life exists, or at one time existed, in locations throughout the universe. However, this assumption is just that, an assumption. No definitive proof exists. On Earth, life has been found to exist in many diverse environments. We believe that this tendency towards diversity supports the assumption that life could exist wherever environmental conditions are right to support it. There are several locations within our Solar System which might support environments which are conducive to life. However, to conclusively establish the existence of life in such locations we must be capable of sensing generic life forms. This paper provides a summary of several innovative techniques based on the use of fluorescent analysis for the direct detection of extraterrestrial life forms.