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I assume that a combination of high temperature and irradiation should be effective. Wood should not be damaged by temperatures high enough to kill living cell
by adrian_b 2y ago
I assume that a combination of high temperature and irradiation should be effective.
Wood should not be damaged by temperatures high enough to kill living cells and it provides negligible shielding for radiation.
However, after sterilization it may require more care than metal, glass or plastic, to avoid any later contamination. Presumably all the assembly must be done in a sterile environment.
Unlike metal or glass, which could be washed in oxidizing acids to remove organic substances, sterilized wood may contain dead bacterial cells in its pores. For satellites expected to burn on reentry that would not matter. For exploring other planets, that would be undesirable, as this could provide false positives for detectors of organic substances.
- dr_orpheus 2y ago> Wood should not be damaged by temperatures high enough to kill living cells Yep, in NASA's planetary protection guidelines they have bakeout timelines specified for microbial reduction at temperatures between 112C and 155C. There are a number of other cleaning and sterilization methods in there as well. [0] https://planetaryprotection.jpl.nasa.gov/resources/img/content/planetary-implementation-pub.pdf https://planetaryprotection.jpl.nasa.gov/resources/img/conte...