Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions
Between April 2009 and July 2011, the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) led the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition (NWPDX), a multi-staged long-distance crewed rover traverse along the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. In April 2009, the HMP Okarian rover was driven 496 km over sea ice along the North...
Published in: | Astrobiology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490634/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26060984 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1289 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4490634 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4490634 2023-05-15T15:01:59+02:00 Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions Schuerger, Andrew C. Lee, Pascal 2015-06-01 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490634/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26060984 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1289 en eng Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490634/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26060984 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1289 Copyright 2015, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Research Articles Text 2015 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1289 2016-06-05T00:14:52Z Between April 2009 and July 2011, the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) led the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition (NWPDX), a multi-staged long-distance crewed rover traverse along the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. In April 2009, the HMP Okarian rover was driven 496 km over sea ice along the Northwest Passage, from Kugluktuk to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. During the traverse, crew members collected samples from within the rover and from undisturbed snow-covered surfaces around the rover at three locations. The rover samples and snow samples were stored at subzero conditions (−20°C to −1°C) until processed for microbial diversity in labs at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The objective was to determine the extent of microbial dispersal away from the rover and onto undisturbed snow. Interior surfaces of the rover were found to be associated with a wide range of bacteria (69 unique taxa) and fungi (16 unique taxa). In contrast, snow samples from the upwind, downwind, uptrack, and downtrack sample sites exterior to the rover were negative for both bacteria and fungi except for two colony-forming units (cfus) recovered from one downwind (1 cfu; site A4) and one uptrack (1 cfu; site B6) sample location. The fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus (GenBank JX517279), and closely related bacteria in the genus Brevibacillus were recovered from both snow (B. agri, GenBank JX517278) and interior rover surfaces. However, it is unknown whether the microorganisms were deposited onto snow surfaces at the time of sample collection (i.e., from the clothing or skin of the human operator) or via airborne dispersal from the rover during the 12–18 h layovers at the sites prior to collection. Results support the conclusion that a crewed rover traveling over previously undisturbed terrain may not significantly contaminate the local terrain via airborne dispersal of propagules from the vehicle. Key Words: Planetary protection—Contamination—Habitability—Haughton Crater—Mars. Astrobiology 15, 478–491. Text Arctic Cambridge Bay Kugluktuk Northwest passage Nunavut Sea ice PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Cambridge Bay ENVELOPE(-105.130,-105.130,69.037,69.037) Canada Kugluktuk ENVELOPE(-115.096,-115.096,67.827,67.827) Northwest Passage Nunavut Astrobiology 15 6 478 491 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Research Articles |
spellingShingle |
Research Articles Schuerger, Andrew C. Lee, Pascal Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions |
topic_facet |
Research Articles |
description |
Between April 2009 and July 2011, the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) led the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition (NWPDX), a multi-staged long-distance crewed rover traverse along the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. In April 2009, the HMP Okarian rover was driven 496 km over sea ice along the Northwest Passage, from Kugluktuk to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. During the traverse, crew members collected samples from within the rover and from undisturbed snow-covered surfaces around the rover at three locations. The rover samples and snow samples were stored at subzero conditions (−20°C to −1°C) until processed for microbial diversity in labs at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The objective was to determine the extent of microbial dispersal away from the rover and onto undisturbed snow. Interior surfaces of the rover were found to be associated with a wide range of bacteria (69 unique taxa) and fungi (16 unique taxa). In contrast, snow samples from the upwind, downwind, uptrack, and downtrack sample sites exterior to the rover were negative for both bacteria and fungi except for two colony-forming units (cfus) recovered from one downwind (1 cfu; site A4) and one uptrack (1 cfu; site B6) sample location. The fungus, Aspergillus fumigatus (GenBank JX517279), and closely related bacteria in the genus Brevibacillus were recovered from both snow (B. agri, GenBank JX517278) and interior rover surfaces. However, it is unknown whether the microorganisms were deposited onto snow surfaces at the time of sample collection (i.e., from the clothing or skin of the human operator) or via airborne dispersal from the rover during the 12–18 h layovers at the sites prior to collection. Results support the conclusion that a crewed rover traveling over previously undisturbed terrain may not significantly contaminate the local terrain via airborne dispersal of propagules from the vehicle. Key Words: Planetary protection—Contamination—Habitability—Haughton Crater—Mars. Astrobiology 15, 478–491. |
format |
Text |
author |
Schuerger, Andrew C. Lee, Pascal |
author_facet |
Schuerger, Andrew C. Lee, Pascal |
author_sort |
Schuerger, Andrew C. |
title |
Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions |
title_short |
Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions |
title_full |
Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions |
title_fullStr |
Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microbial Ecology of a Crewed Rover Traverse in the Arctic: Low Microbial Dispersal and Implications for Planetary Protection on Human Mars Missions |
title_sort |
microbial ecology of a crewed rover traverse in the arctic: low microbial dispersal and implications for planetary protection on human mars missions |
publisher |
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490634/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26060984 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1289 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-105.130,-105.130,69.037,69.037) ENVELOPE(-115.096,-115.096,67.827,67.827) |
geographic |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Canada Kugluktuk Northwest Passage Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Canada Kugluktuk Northwest Passage Nunavut |
genre |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Kugluktuk Northwest passage Nunavut Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Cambridge Bay Kugluktuk Northwest passage Nunavut Sea ice |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490634/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26060984 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1289 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2015, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1289 |
container_title |
Astrobiology |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
478 |
op_container_end_page |
491 |
_version_ |
1766333989034917888 |