Rapid PetrifilmTM Plates (RPPs) for Reducing Planetary Protection Assay Time and Cost, Year 1

1) Current NASA Standard Assay (NSA) plates require 72 hours of incubation before a bioburden number can be delivered to engineers; proposed Rapid Petrifilm Plates (RPPs) take only 24 hours, reducing the required time by 48 hours 2) Current methods require manual NSA counting every 24 hours; the proposed approach will use automated counting, which has the potential to save 2-3 FTE on Flagship Projects (MSL estimate) 3) Current NSA plates are hand-made, which is labor- and time-intensive; The proposed RPPs are pre-made Replace bulky, expensive, time-consuming, NSA plates that measure bioburden with RPPs, used in food safety for twenty years; Use RPPs that incorporate dye into growth media, which speeds up detection, decreases the rate of false-positives, and improves effectiveness of automated counting.

Sample results to hardware engineers in 1 day (rather than 3 for NSA); Automated culture counting will save 2-3 FTE/year (MSL estimate)1/15/2020; Each Flagship Project will save > $100,000, as each RPP costs $2 less than each NSA plate (M2020 will process > 50,000 NSA plates by launch)

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.