Search Results

The Augustine advisory committee on the future of the U.S. Space Program has recommended that “Space Station Freedom be revamped to emphasize life sciences and human space operations.” An important component of life sciences research involves the housing, care and maintenance of research specimens. Microbial and odor contamination control measures are necessary to ensure that cross contamination between the crew and specimens is controlled and limited. The bioisolation requirements being applied to life sciences specimen handling facilities are more stringent than those applied in the past. This paper examines the designs and operational features which have been used during previous spaceflight missions to contain and control crew and research specimen wastes.

Previous testing verified that bioisolation between animal specimens and a spacecraft crew can be provided at the level of the individual specimen's living quarters (modular habitat) by the use of microbial air filters. As a follow-on effort, a long term experiment was performed to (1) determine the effective lifetime of the microbial filters and (2) collect and analyze condensate from the heat exchanger. This paper presents results showing that the filters provided effective microbial isolation throughout the 58 day tests. Condensate data analysis is also presented. The experiment was repeated for a two week period without filters to serve as a control.

The results of three months of testing using rodents in a breadboard biological isolator cage are presented. These cages are designed to provide isolation using microbial air filters on both inlet and outlet. Four different types cf filters were tested: a conventional HEPA filter (rated at 99.97% efficient at 0.3 microns), a “hospital” grade HEPA filter (95% efficient at 0.3 microns), and two grades of “Filtrete” - a proprietary 3M polypropylene material (rated at 84% and 97.3%, respectively, at 0.3 microns). Test results showed excellent performance on all filters, meeting or exceeding the strict particulate and microbial air quality standards proposed for the outlet of the animal holding facility: Class 100 and 10 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/m3. In addition, it was also discovered that the fiberglass batting used inside the cage to contain animal waste served as an effective microbial filter by itself.