The Quarantine and Certification of Martian Samples (2002) / Chapter Skim
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6 The Quarantine Facility
6 The Quarantine Facility
Pages 47-59
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From page 47... ...
(1) Inside an augmented BSL-3 facility, the samples can be enclosed in Class III Biological Safety cabinets with Throughout this report, COMPLEX uses the words "sterilized" and "sterilization" as being synonymous with treatment by heat and/or gamma radiation to such a level as to kill any known terrestrial organism.
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From page 48... ...
Louis encephalitis virus Separate building or isolated zone; doubledoor entry; negative air pressure (inward air flow) ; room penetrations sealed As in BSL-1, BSL-2 As in BSL-2, plus Class II or Class III biosafety cabinets to manipulate infectious material; respiratory protection if needed As in BSL-2, plus all work in biosafety cabinets; use of bioaero sol- containing equipment; prompt decontamination of spills; personnel strictly follow guidelines, demonstrate proficiency, participate in medical surveillance Dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high risk of aerosoltransmitted infections and life-threatening disease, for example, hanta, ebola, arena viruses As in BSL-3, plus independent air supply and HEPA-filtered exhaust; rooms sealed to permit gaseous decontamination Class III biosafety cabinets or Class II cabinets with spacesuits BSL-3 where applicable; interlocking double-door passthrough autoclave BSL-3 where applicable, plus liquid, solid waste sterilized; exhaust air HEPA filtered; all work in Class III biosafety cabinets or Class II cabinets with spacesuits; all surfaces decontaminated before removal; no infectious organisms can leave the laboratory except in sealed containers
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From page 49... ...
At the top, hazardous samples are enclosed in a Class III Biological Safety cabinet. Below, the samples are more exposed in a Class II cabinet, but the worker is protected from them by a spacesuit.
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From page 50... ...
These garments are formally positive pressure personnel protection suits, but in practice they are called "spacesuits." In the first case, the Class III Biological Safety cabinets have internal gas pressures that are less than atmospheric, so if there is slight leakage, the gas flow is from the surrounding room into the cabinet and pathogens in the cabinet have no path out of it. The surrounding room is effectively a large Class III cabinet itself.
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From page 51... ...
These measures sound drastic, in the context of handling samples that are unlikely to contain life and still less likely to contain pathogenic life; but if maximum precautions are to be taken, they must be adhered to. COMPLEX concurs with the conclusion reached by earlier studies that initial BSL-4 containment is dictated for the Mars samples.3~7 THE QUARANTINE FACILITY FOR MARS SAMPLES The initial processing of returned martian samples should be restricted to a BSL-4 laboratory in the quarantine facility (Chapter 6~.
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From page 52... ...
Such large fractionations have been found in samples thought to contain interstellar grains, but they are not expected in the Mars samples. Our ability to understand the Mars samples would be severely limited if quarantine or curation activities allowed contamination of the samples to a degree that precluded all dating techniques except SIMS.
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From page 53... ...
caused by pressure differentials in the spaces shown. Gray areas are potentially contaminated by any organisms the Mars samples might contain.
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From page 54... ...
Recommendation · The Mars Quarantine Facility should be designed to the smallest and simplest possible scale consistent with its role as a biological containment and clean room facility. No scientific investigations should be carried out in the quarantine facility that can be executed on sterilized samples outside the facility.
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From page 55... ...
The Mars Quarantine Facility should remain effectively under the control of NASA, which is able to supply the science perspective that will guide study of the samples without compromising the required standard of biological containment and planetary protection. It is important that the laboratory be located in or near an active biological science community, where those workers using the facility would be able to draw from a critical mass of supporting scientific disciplines and infrastructure, including other BSL-4 facilities.
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From page 56... ...
It is beyond the scope of COMPLEX's charge to comment on the ultimate curation of the samples, but the committee believes strongly that their preliminary examination, baseline description, cataloguing, and packaging should be carried out at a single quarantine facility in the United States. The sample canister containing Mars samples probably will be landed in the continental United States, recovered by a mobile retrieval unit, and then 10This technical discussion is from the experience of COMPLEX member P
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From page 57... ...
(6 months) 7 years Facility is certified as ready to receive Mars samples.
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From page 58... ...
All samples in the initial collection returned from Mars should be placed in a quarantine facility in the United States, at least until the preliminary examination of the samples has been completed. Management and operation of the Mars Quarantine Facility should be shared between the United States and major international partners that participated in the collection of martian samples.
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From page 59... ...
It should differ from LSAPT in having a larger component of biological scientists, and a more deeply felt appreciation for planetary protection and the potential of the Mars samples to be repositories of life. But like LSAPT it should be a continuing committee, with the capacity and motivation to follow through on the reception of its recommendations, something that advisory groups like COMPLEX, the Space Studies Board Task Group on Issues in Sample Return,l3 and MSHARP (the NASA Mars Sample Handling and Requirements Panell4 cannot do.
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