Keeping life off Mars

Contract services laboratory, Reading Scientific Services Ltd is playing a crucial role in reducing the risk of the accidental transfer of life on earth to Mars. RSSL's microbiologists are working in conjunction with a project team from the Open University to monitor the Aseptic Assembly Facility (cleanroom) that will be used to assemble Beagle 2. This is the scientific equipment that will land on Mars next year in a bid to search for the chemical residues that would be evidence of life on the planet. It's an important job. Most satellites are constructed in class 100,000 cleanrooms, which constrain particulate matter in the air. The same principle applies in the case of microbiological cleanrooms but the constraint specification is much tighter. To meet internationally accepted planetary protection requirements and the even more stringent needs of the lander being sent to Mars the Beagle 2 clean-room must meet the ISO Class 1 target. It's important to limit the chance of bacteria, moulds or yeasts being carried from earth to Mars. It's necessary to prevent contamination of the planet itself, and of the sensitive probes that will be used to detect residues of organic matter on the surface of the planet. RSSL's microbiologists are more used to analysing for spoilage organisms in pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical cleanrooms, but this was a job they couldn't resist. "It isn't every day you get a call from an Interplanetary Protection Officer asking you to help," explains Dr Graham Pettipher of RSSL. As well as making their routine inspection of the clean-rooms, RSSL has also trained members of the Beagle 2 project in the sampling techniques that will enable them to send samples to RSSL for more regular analysis. The construction of Beagle 2 is due for completion by the end of this year, and the launch is planned for June 2003.