[meteorite-list] Preparation For Martian Samples Quarantine Facility Must Begin Soon

From: David Weir <dgweir_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:46:26 2004
Message-ID: <3B153CE1.4DC04789_at_earthlink.net>

Hello Ron and List,

Am I missing something here? Why are we spending our time and tax
dollars to quarantine (biological containment) the same rocks that
people are continuously stumbling over in the deserts of the world?
Rocks that are regularly shipped all over the world without a second
thought. The same rocks which have been accreting to our planet for
billions of years in amounts surely measured in the trillions of tons.
Seems like the boogy-man is already out of the bag to me.

David

Ron Baalke wrote:
>
> Office of News and Public Information
> National Academy of Sciences
> Washington, D.C.
>
> Contacts:
> Jennifer Wenger, Media Relations Associate
> Mark Chesnek, Media Relations Assistant
> (202) 334-2138; e-mail: news_at_nas.edu
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 29, 2001
>
> PREPARATION FOR MARTIAN SAMPLES QUARANTINE FACILITY MUST BEGIN SOON TO BE
> READY FOR FIRST MISSION
>
> WASHINGTON -- Work on a quarantine facility must begin soon if it is to be
> ready in time for spacecraft returning to Earth with martian rocks and soil
> in tow, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research
> Council. Although the probability is extremely low that these samples will
> contain hazardous organisms, prudence dictates that all material must be
> rigorously quarantined at first.
>
> With current projections indicating that the first sampling mission to Mars
> could launch in 2011, martian samples could reach Earth as early as 2014.
> A facility that isolates the samples from terrestrial organisms and
> chemicals -- while safeguarding the Earth's environment from possible
> contamination -- will probably take seven years or more to design, build,
> and test.
>
> "Building this type of quarantine facility is a project of enormous
> complexity," said John Wood, chair of the committee that wrote the report
> and staff scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
> Cambridge, Mass. "We strongly recommend that this process get under way
> as soon as possible."
>
> One major problem in constructing such a facility is the unprecedented
> need for both biological containment and clean-room conditions. Biological
> containment is designed to protect the Earth's environment from possible
> contamination by the samples. Clean-room conditions are needed to prevent
> terrestrial organisms, dust, or other foreign matter from getting into
> the samples and changing their properties. Part of the problem is that
> contradictory measures are traditionally employed in these two types
> of facilities. Biological containment facilities enclose samples at
> lower-than-ambient air pressures so any leakage moves air into the sample
> chamber and away from the external environment. Clean-room cabinets, on
> the other hand, are held at greater-than-ambient gas pressures so leakage
> is outward, protecting the enclosed samples from external contamination.
>
> Because a facility combining these features has never been built,
> extensive experimentation and testing will be needed to design a system
> of two-way protection. This must be accomplished before design work on the
> actual Mars quarantine facility begins. Experimentation also is needed to
> identify effective sterilization techniques that have a minimal impact on
> the physical and chemical properties of the samples. The report recommends
> that a continuing committee of biological and geochemical experts be
> assembled to oversee all aspects of planning, construction, and operation
> of the quarantine facility.
>
> To maximize resources and expedite the process of meeting environmental
> requirements, the quarantine facility should be affiliated with -- and
> located adjacent to -- an existing containment facility such as those
> operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the
> U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases in Ft. Detrick,
> Md., or the facility projected by the medical branch of the University of
> Texas at Galveston. However, NASA should operate and be responsible for the
> quarantine facility, the report recommends.
>
> Because operations in a maximum-security containment facility are highly
> constrained, the report recommends that only the most basic preliminary
> examination necessary to document the samples and test them for biohazards
> should be carried out there. Once the samples are cleared for release, a
> broader range of examinations should be carried out elsewhere. Plans should
> be in place to promptly sterilize a portion of the samples after they are
> received so they can be safely transferred out of the facility for study
> in specialized university
> laboratories.
>
> The committee proposed specific guidelines for release of samples from the
> facility. If found to contain no organic matter or other evidence of life,
> they could be released without sterilization. If the samples contain
> possible evidence of life, which is the most likely case, portions that have
> been sterilized by heat or gamma radiation could be certified for release
> and study elsewhere. If the samples are found to contain unmistakable
> evidence of life, they should not be released at all until an expert panel
> of biologists is convened to rethink the situation; the establishment of
> a research facility dedicated to their study, far more extensive than the
> quarantine facility, will probably be justified.
>
> The study was sponsored by NASA. The National Research Council is the
> principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the
> National Academy of Engineering. It is a private, nonprofit institution
> that provides independent advice on science and technology issues under a
> congressional charter. A committee roster follows.
>
> THE QUARANTINE AND CERTIFICATION OF MARTIAN SAMPLES will be available on
> the World Wide Web at http://www.nap.edu . The Academies' Web site also
> will feature supplemental information and an extended Web treatment at
> http://national-academies.org/webextra/mars . Reporters may obtain a copy
> from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
>
> NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
> Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
> Space Studies Board
>
> COMMITTEE ON PLANETARY AND LUNAR EXPLORATION
>
> JOHN A. WOOD* (CHAIR)
> Senior Scientist
> Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
> Cambridge, Mass.
>
> WILLIAM V. BOYNTON
> Professor of Planetary Science, Cosmochemistry, and Geochemistry
> Department of Planetary Science
> Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
> University of Arizona
> Tucson
>
> W. ROGER BUCK
> Senior Research Scientist
> Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
> Palisades, N.Y., and
> Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences
> Columbia University
> New York City
>
> JAMES P. FERRIS
> Research Professor
> Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and
> Director
> New York Center for Studies on the Origins of Life
> Troy
>
> JOHN M. HAYES*
> Director, National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility, and
> Senior Scientist, Department of Geology and Geophysics
> Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
> Woods Hole, Mass.
>
> KAREN J. MEECH
> Associate Astronomer
> Institute for Astronomy
> University of Hawaii
> Honolulu
>
> JOHN F. MUSTARD
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Geological Science
> Brown University
> Providence, R.I.
>
> ANDREW F. NAGY
> Professor of Space Science
> Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, and
> Professor of Electrical Engineering
> University of Michigan
> Ann Arbor
>
> KEITH S. NOLL
> Associate Astronomer
> Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer Instrument Group
> Space Telescope Science Institute
> Baltimore
>
> DAVID A. PAIGE
> Associate Professor of Planetary Science
> Department of Earth and Space Sciences
> University of California
> Los Angeles
>
> ROBERT T. PAPPALARDO
> Assistant Professor of Planetary Science
> Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences
> University of Colorado
> Boulder
>
> ANNA-LOUISE REYSENBACH
> Assistant Professor of Biology
> Department of Biology
> Portland State University
> Portland, Ore.
>
> J. WILLIAM SCHOPF*
> Professor of Paleobiology
> Department of Earth and Space Sciences, the Molecular Biology Institute, and
> the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, and
> Director
> Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life
> University of California
> Los Angeles
>
> ANN L. SPRAGUE
> Planetary Scientist
> Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
> University of Arizona
> Tucson
>
> RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
>
> DAVID H. SMITH
> Study Director
>
> * Member, National Academy of Sciences
>
> [NOTE: Text of the full report is available for online viewing at
> http://www.nap.edu/books/0309075718/html/index.html]
>
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Received on Wed 30 May 2001 02:33:05 PM PDT