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NASA recently launched a new spacecraft that is designed to study the moon. This craft will monitor the moon’s atmosphere and conduct research on the dust in the moon’s air. This spacecraft was built and tested in a cleanroom before it left Earth for many very important reasons. Cleanrooms are controlled environments designed to keep particulates and dust out. You may have seen pictures of these rooms before, and they have a very unique look. Most of the time cleanrooms are typically white, and cleanroom workers are dressed in protective clothing. This clothing is specially designed to be non-linting and to keep particles shed by the workers contained in the suit. Depending on the types of operations in the cleanroom, the clothing may vary greatly. Cleanrooms that aren’t conducting very sensitive processes may only require a set of gloves and lab coat. Other types of cleanrooms that handle very sensitive or technical processes may require a full “bunny suit” which covers the entire body. Body suits are typically accompanied by gloves, booties and head coverings. If the room is designed to keep out all the particulates, why is there a need for protective clothing? Oddly enough, humans are the biggest threats to cleanroom environments. People are constantly emitting all sorts of particulates in the form of skin cells, hair and spittle. Coughing or sneezing compounds this process even further, and on top of all that, deodorants, colognes/perfumes and hair products can also pollute the cleanroom. For some cleanrooms, like NASA, the stakes are very high for the items made within the room. Expensive projects and a difficulty to work on them after they are in space make for a very strict cleanliness policy. One cleanroom worker’s aftershave fogged up a lens on the Hubble telescope many years ago. This was a costly and difficult item to repair! Cleanrooms aren’t just used by NASA, but also by the aerospace, pharmaceutical, electronics manufacturing, and many other industries. They are important for producing all sorts of goods and ensuring a “clean environment”.
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nasa, cleanrooms, clean room, cleanroom construction, clean room design, clean room clothing, aerospace, pharmaceutical, electronics production,
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