[21] A RESEARCH PROGRAM THE LIFE SCIENCES had to be established after NASA's formation, since NACA had essentially no experience or in-house capability in the biological field which could be carried over into the new organization. The NACA research organization had been built almost entirely around its research centers. Under NASA, the research development program became contractor oriented.
The first of the research contractors was JPL. This continuing project is by far the largest research effort which NASA has supported in this field. Although technically a contractor, JPL has, in effect, operated as a major NASA research center.
When NASA took contractual control of JPL on January 1, 1959, JPL too had little experience in biology or the life sciences. Among the first to become involved in sterilization problems at JPL was Richard W. Davies, who had been in contact with Dr. Lederberg and was a member of his ad hoc committee on spacecraft sterilization which met in the summer of 1959. Also involved soon after JPL became a NASA prime contractor was Marcus G. Comuntzis, an engineer concerned with the Ranger program. They gave a joint paper on spacecraft sterilization in London in the summer of 1959. In it they recommended various goals, including one that the probability of landing a viable organism on Mars or Venus should be less than one in a million.
This was followed up in JPL by an engineering study conducted by Leonard D. Jaffe (Jaffe, 1963, 1964). He took into consideration the current state-of-the-art, both in sterilization and in trajectory control, [22] and concluded that these probabilities should be lessened considerably for Venus and that those for Mars should be reduced to about a 10-4 probability. The further development of these goals in terms of probabilities is covered in Werber's companion report mentioned in the Foreword to this volume.
JPL also started early to build up an in-house biological research capability. In March 1959, JPL arranged for George L. Hobby, then associated with Dr. Dean Burke at the National Institutes of Health, to come into their organization as a staff biologist. He reported for duty in August 1959 and began to build up a small internal biological organization. Frank A. Morelli was an early member of this group.
Since then, a large number of JPL staff members have been associated with sterilization and planetary quarantine activities either on a full-time or part-time basis. The research effort grew particularly after the establishment of the PQ office within NASA headquarters, which offered a central source of program planning and funding. Much of the research is difficult to sort out from other JPL activities associated with funded programs not directly related to planetary quarantine. For example, there was a large effort from the start to determine which spacecraft components were unaffected by various types of sterilization treatments and to develop new sterilizable components when the available ones were damaged by heat or other techniques. Trajectory computations also had a bearing on planetary quarantine. Many JPL research efforts were directly funded by NASA's PQ office and were related directly to that program.
The Planetary Quarantine Program at JPL is now supervised by Dr. Charles W. Craven. He was Project Officer for early Voyager project work, supported by various contractors including General Electric, with Robert Wolfson as principal investigator. This led to a clear definition of overall planetary quarantine parameters, which in turn led to more than a score of early laboratory investigations to better define problems of die-off and recontamination-die-off due to ultraviolet radiation and recontamination due to exhaust gases and spelling.
George F. Ervin had an early assignment as Capsule Systems Sterilization Engineer for Voyager, and he provided the Planetary Quarantine Program with a fresh look at procedures and methodology. He exercised considerable engineering acumen in the development of sterilization specifications and the NASA planetary quarantine handbook, NHB 8020.12. This documentation has been and continues to be a key element in Viking development activities.
Victor J. Magistrale carried out early coordination work on a laboratory-wide basis to develop the sterilizable parts for various [23] spacecraft, including electronic components, scientific instruments, batteries, and materials. At that time sterilization requirements included exposure to both dry heat and ethylene oxide. In this effort he worked closely with James R. Miles, the Sterilization Program Manager at NASA headquarters.
Alexander S. Irons worked in the area of sterilization methodology with both dry heat and ethylene oxide. He defined exposure times, conditions of exposure, i.e., amount of moisture, and carried out studies to better define clean rooms and to develop means of quantization. This included work in the Experimental Assembly Sterilization Laboratory (EASL). He later projected his work into the civil systems area, developing a readily sterilizable pressure breathing machine for use in hospitals. This is considered a direct transfer of NASA technology to the civil sector.
Dr. Joseph J. McDade conducted early studies to define clean-room work areas. These studies included definition of expected microbiological fallout and accumulation of biological load on spacecraft surfaces. In addition, he did pioneering work to quantitize microbiological population. Later work in cleaning spacecraft surfaces has proven of value in the cleanup of all the various Mariner spacecraft.
Dr. Joseph A. Stern and Dr. Richard H. Green selected and directed a team of workers to provide the Viking project discipline, as well as other planetary quarantine achievements. They refined early clean-room studies and advanced the quantization of microbiological populations.
Gunther Redmann worked with the prototype Sterilization Development Laboratory (SADL) and with simulated lander capsule equipment to collect data showing the level of bioload to be expected through normal assembly and test of Viking hardware. These data proved that extensive sterile life protection and handling of flight hardware were unnecessary. In addition, his work showed the merit of the class 100 type of clean tent which was later adapted for use with the two Mariner 71 spacecraft.
Dr. Daniel M. Taylor refined spacecraft cleaning methodology and continued the operation of bioassay laboratories required to support the Viking lander through launch. His studies of radiation effect on microorganisms, combined with effects of the space environment and exposure to dry heat, have proven of great value in defining planetary quarantine requirements for planned missions to Jupiter and Saturn.
Alan R. Hoffman worked in systems analysis, mathematical modeling, and development of planetary quarantine computer programs in support of the overall Viking Planetary Quarantine [24] Program. He has also projected his systems analysis methodology into studies for missions to the outer planets to provide planners with a selection of strategies for encounters with the planets and their satellites.
Aside from the effort at JPL, there were many other contractors working on planetary quarantine research. Some were early participants in the NASA sterilization effort. A larger number came in after the establishment of the Planetary Quarantine office at NASA headquarters. These contractors, the scope of their research effort, principal investigators, and duration of study are listed in the Appendix. The reader is referred to the BSCP bibliography for a review of published results.