01 / Contract Profile

80NSSC24K0321 Federal Contract Award

Agency code 8000

OUR FIRST GOAL IS TO DETERMINE THROUGH LABORATORY STUDIES WHETHER PRION-LIKE PROTEIN- OR PEPTIDE-BASED ASSEMBLY MAY SURVIVE MARS AND/ OR ICY MOON CONDITIONS, THUS PROVIDING EITHER A SUBSTRATE FOR PROLIFERATION OR A SOURCE FOR CONTAMINATION OF SAMPLE RETURN MISSIONS. THIS PROPOSAL RESPONDS TO THE CALL TO CHARACTERIZE THE LIMITS OF LIFE IN LABORATORY SIMULATIONS OF RELEVANT PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS AND THE POTENTIAL AND DYNAMICS OF BIO-MOLECULE SURVIVAL AND REPRODUCTION IN CONDITIONS PRESENT ON THE SURFACE OR SUBSURFACE OF MARS (E.G., GULLIES AND ICE-RICH ENVIRONMENTS), OR ON EUROPA AND OTHER ICY SATELLITES . UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF OUT-OF-EARTH CONDITIONS ON PRION PROLIFERATION MAY ALSO SHED LIGHT AT THE PROCESSES LEADING TO EMERGENCE OF LIFE ON EARTH AND INFORM PLANETARY PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS. THE EXPOSURES WILL BE PERFORMED IN THE PROPOSED MARS CHAMBER AND EUROPA CHAMBER (WITH R&D AD FLIGHT HERITAGE) AND ANALYSIS OF PROTEINS REPRODUCTION AND INACTIVATION WILL INCLUDE A PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED MODEL. OUR SECOND GOAL IS TO TEST PROTEINACEOUS PARTICLES WITH RAPID HIGH HEAT TO FILL IN KNOWLEDGE GAPS FOR PLANETARY PROTECTION (PP) REQUIREMENTS ESTABLISHED BY NASA POLICY DOCUMENT (NPD) 8020.7G AND NASA PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS (NPR) 8715.24 WHICH INCLUDE RAPID HIGH HEAT TEMPERATURES AT 500C FOR 0.5 SECONDS. WITH UPCOMING SAMPLE RETURN MISSIONS (E.G. MARS SAMPLE RETURN) THERE IS AN URGENCY TO PERFORM RAPID HIGH HEAT TESTS TO EXPLORE THE RANGE OF POSSIBLE BRAZING TEMPERATURES FOR BREAK THE CHAIN . PREVIOUS DATA ED PRION INACTIVATION BY HIGH DRY HEAT IN PRINCIPLE, BUT THE EFFICIENCY OF SHORT-TERM EXPOSURES IS YET TO BE CAREFULLY EXPLORED. THIS PROPOSAL DIRECTLY RESPONDS TO THE CALL TO EXPERIMENTALLY MEASURING EXPOSURE OF BIOMOLECULES TO HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME . ANOTHER APPLICATION FOR RAPID HIGH TESTING IS TO UNDERSTAND IMPACT HEATING TO SUPPLEMENT RISK BASED MODELS FOR NASA S PROBABILISTIC MODELS. FINALLY, ADDITIONAL HEATING TESTS WILL INCLUDE COMBINED EFFECTS OF SIMULTANEOUS STRESSORS SUCH AS VACUUM AND RADIATION FOLLOWED BY THE TREATMENT OF THE RETURNED SAMPLE WITH DRY HEAT MICROBIAL REDUCTION (DHMR). THESE DHMR TESTS AIM TO EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE SURVIVABILITY OF PROTEINACEOUS PARTICLES WHEN EXPOSED TO A HEATING SOURCE BROUGHT TO SPACE AND OR UPON RETURN TO EARTH FOR INACTIVATION.