During spacecraft assembly, the reduction of bioburden is of utmost importance. The study of planetary bodies that may harbor (or may have once harbored) life demands that every precaution is made to protect both the integrity of life detection missio . . .

Biconically tapered fiber-optic sensors (BTFS) have great potential to be powerful and cost efficient tools for detecting analytes, such as antigens, proteins, and DNA. Fabricated to assume a biconical shape, fiber tapers act as interferometers in whi . . .

Originally isolated from the Mars Odyssey prior to launch, Acinetobacter radioresistens 50v1, a gram negative bacteria, was found to exhibit extremophile capabilities as it can resist multiple decontamination techniques within spacecraft facilities. I . . .