CARE OF CONTAMINATION. “It must be emphasized that, to avoid drift of terrestrial bacteria into space, the sampler “TEST” was sterilized in an autoclave and with γ- radiation. After the dust was collected from the surface of the ISS, the astronaut screwed the tampon holder into the body of the sampler “TEST” in the open space, so that the swab remained in vacuum until the sampler was opened in the terrestrial laboratory, which was also important to avoid nucleic acids contamination.”
https://lnkd.in/dNHWs6R