Organic Contamination Baseline Study in NASA Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Curation Laboratories

Future robotic and human spaceflightmissions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and comets will require curating astromaterial samples with minimal inorganic and organic contamination to preserve the scientific integrity of each sample. 21st century sample return missionswill focus on strict protocols for reducing organic contamination that have not been seen since the Apollomanned lunar landing program. To properly curate these materials, the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office under the Astromaterial Research and Exploration Science Directorate at NASA Johnson Space Center houses and protects all extraterrestrial materialsbrought back to Earth that are controlled by the United States government. During fiscal year2012, we conducted a year-long project to compile historical documentationand laboratory tests involving organic investigations at these facilities. In addition, we developed a plan to determine the current state of organic cleanliness in curation laboratories housing astromaterials. This was accomplished by focusing on current procedures and protocols for cleaning, sample handling, and storage. While the intention of this report is to give a comprehensive overview of the current state of organic cleanliness in JSC curation laboratories, it also provides a baseline for determining whether our cleaning procedures and sample handling protocols need to be adapted and/or augmented to meet the new requirements for future human spaceflightand robotic sample return missions.