Activity: Space Decontamination

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Objective

• A sterile spacecraft environment is extremely important. To understand this importance and to test for the presence of alien life forms, try this experiment.

Material

• Dry beans (soaked in water overnight)
• Four 250ml containers
• Water
• 3% Iodine
• 70% Alcohol
• Lysol

Procedure

• Place equal number of beans in each bottle
• Cover the beans with water
• Add 10 drops of the following to each bottle in turn:
• Bottle A�Iodine
• Bottle B�Alcohol
• Bottle C�Lysol
• Bottle D�Nothing
• Stopper the bottles with cotton and allow them to stand in a warm place for two or three days.
• Periodically examine the bottles for cloudiness and odor.

Questions

• How does one account for any changes in color or odor in the bottles?
• What difference might using sterile bottles have made in this experiment?
• Would sterilization of the beans have made a difference?
• What would happen if different temperatures had been used?
• How many variables can you identify in this experiment?
• How many did you account for or control?