Brad Schanche, a second year Space Studies graduate student, is interning this summer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology's Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group.  This group is responsible for mitigating the risks of bacterial contamination to other planets from exploration activities.  He has been assessing the viability of spore producing bacteria which have been exposed to "space-like" and "Mars-like" conditions in order to determine the risk for forward planetary contamination during missions to other planets.  Additionally, he has been experimenting with detection techniques for spore producing bacteria.  Brad is pictured reviving samples from their testing surface.