Particulate removal using a CO2 composite spray cleaning system

The Planetary Protection surface cleanliness requirements for potential Mars Sample Return hardware that would come in contact with Martian samples may be stricter than previous missions. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a new technology that will enable the removal of sub-micron size particles from critical hardware surfaces. A hand-held CO₂ composite cleaning system was tested to verify its cleaning capabilities. This convenient, portable device can be used in cleanrooms for cleaning after rework or during spacecraft integration and assembly. It is environmentally safe and easy to use. This cleaning concept has the potential to be further developed into a robotic cleaning device on a Mars Lander to be used to clean sample acquisition or sample handling devices in situ. Contaminants of known sizes and concentrations, such as fluorescent microspheres and spores were deposited on common spacecraft material surfaces. The cleaning efficiency results will be presented and discussed.