Effects of ethylene oxide decontamination and thermal sterilization on insulating materials used in spacecraft

The detection of life forms that may have independently evolved on other planets (particularly Mars), is one of the scientific objectives of planetary explorations. Contamination by Earth organisms would make it hard, if not impossible, to realize such an objective. Regulations by NASA, therefore, require the sterilization of planetary landing vehicles. This requirement necessitates the selection of sterilizable components and materials. Insulating materials are used extensively on spacecraft. This paper concerns an investigation of the effects of sterilization environments on commercial polymeric insulating materials. Most of the products discussed had previous usage in non-sterilized Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) spacecraft, and thus some familiarity was established with them. None were recommended by manufacturers as sterilizable products.