Castro, C.L.

Connolly,  H.C.

Davis, R. E.

Dworkin, R.E.

Lauretta, D.S.

McCubbin, F.M.

Messenger, S.R.

Regberg, A.B.

Righter, K.

Stahl, S.E.

Wallace, S.L.

NASA Technical Reports Server

MICROBIAL ECOLOGY OF THE OSIRIS-REX ASSEMBLY TEST AND LAUNCH ENVIRONMENT.  
A.B. Regberg1, C.L. Castro2, H.C. Connolly Jr.3, R.E. Davis4 J.P. Dworkin5, D.S. Lauretta6, S.R. Messenger1, F.M. 
McCubbin1, K. Righter1, S.E. Stahl2, and S.L. Wallace7 , 1Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Divi-
sion, NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston TX 77058, 2JES Tech, 16870 Royal Crest, Hou-
ston, TX 77058, 3Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ 08028. 4 Jacobs@NASA/Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 
77058, 5Astrochemistry Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, 6Lunar and Planetary La-
boratory, University of Arizona, 1629 E University Blvd Tucson AZ 85721-0092 7Biomedical Research and Envi-
ronmental Sciences Division, Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston TX 77058. Email: aa-
ron.b.regberg@nasa.gov  
 
 
Introduction: In order to further characterize the 
ATLO (Assembly Test and Launch Operations) envi-
ronment of the OSIRIS-REx mission1 We analyzed 17 
witness foils and two blanks for the presence of bacte-
rial, archaeal, fungal, and arthropod DNA. Though 
OSIRIS-REx is a Category II outbound, Category V 
unrestricted sample return mission with no bioburden 
requirement.  Since its intended target, the asteroid 
Bennu, is likely to contain high concentrations of bio-
logically available organic compounds it is useful to 
understand what types of organisms were present dur-
ing ATLO. Although it is unlikely that any of the or-
ganisms detected will survive the multi-year journey to 
and from Bennu these data will provide important in-
formation about organisms present in aerospace clean 
rooms commonly used for a wide range of missions 
and the potential for recontamination of cleaned space-
craft during installation at the launch pad. 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20190001815 2019-08-30T22:25:38+00:00Z


Microbial Ecology of the Osiris-Rex Assembly Test and Launch Environment.

Microbial Ecology of the Osiris-Rex Assembly Test and Launch Environment.

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