The problem with assuming it's spacewalking-caused contamination can be summed up in two words: Why plankton? On Wednesday, August 20, 2014 4:51 PM, Ryan Simpkins <astro@ryansimpkins.com> wrote: On Wed, August 20, 2014 14:19, daniel turner via Utah-Astronomy wrote:
3. Having worked in severely enforced clean environments where plague and other pathogens are routinely handled, I am amazed at how casually the aerospace workers are about contamination procedures. I see noses sticking out of masks, hair sticking out of bonnets, dangling ear jewelry, and people adjusting their glasses with their supposedly sterile gloved hands. So there is strong chance we brought it up there ourselves.
In the original article those investigating this have indicated that contamination is a real possibility. They apparently are polishing/cleaning test surfaces so they can attempt to re-create the test. However, if the space around the ISS has been severely contaminated given the many spacewalks and launches we have performed, would cleaning some surfaces eliminate enough contamination to make a second test viable? It might be rather difficult to perform a contaminate-free test. If we have, through various means, scattered Earth's orbit with various organic particles then the real news here is we have found proof that humans are a rather messy species. ;-) ---- "In reply to a question on how the ISS surface is contaminated now, the space specialist said that the ISS surface was polluted very strongly due to operation of space engines and other factors. “We are conducting special works to polish somehow and put illuminators in order. This is particularly needed during long space flights,” Solovyev added." -- http://en.itar-tass.com/non-political/745635 -Ryan _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".