LJ wrote:
I guess this has been discussed in the past, but: if there is such great concern about quarantining and sterilizing the samples, what consideration is being given to cleaning the return vessel?

Alex writes:
Provisions for cleaning after recovery, presumably in the quarantine facility, are unclear, as the NRC report notes. However, there were some provisions in the previous Mars architecture to *mimimize* back contamination problems associated with the SRC on the Martian surface. Most notably, NASA considered something known as the "magazine" concept to cut down on the inevitable exposure of the SRC to the Martian environment. The SRC was to be housed inside an igloo atop the lander and the ascent stage. Once the sample was retrieved robotically (either by the lander or rover) the igloo would open briefly and the sample would be inserted into a magazine, which would then be sealed inside the SRC, and the igloo would immediately be closed. At any rate, I'll admit that this is a fairly rough description, but I'll track down a previous IAF Congress paper on the subject and post something more concrete tomorrow.

Alex R. Blackwell
University of Hawaii