Report Series Committee On Planetary Protection

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309162009
Total Pages : 63 pages
Book Rating : 4.05/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-12-29 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under U.S. policy and international treaty, the goals of planetary protection are to avoid both adverse changes in Earth’s environment caused by introducing extraterrestrial matter and harmful contamination of solar system bodies in order to protect their biological integrity for scientific study. The United States has long cooperated with other countries and relevant scientific communities through the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) of the International Council for Science in developing planetary protection guidance for different categories of space missions. In the past, achieving planetary protection objectives through science-based, international-consensus guidelines proved relatively straightforward because a small number of spacefaring nations explored the solar system, predominantly through government-led and scientifically focused robotic missions. However, interest in, and the capabilities to undertake, exploration and uses of outer space are evolving and expanding. More countries are engaging in space activities. Private-sector involvement is increasing. Planning is under way for human as well as robotic missions. As recent advisory reports have highlighted, the changes in the nature of space activities create unprecedented challenges for planetary protection. This publication responds to NASA’s request for “a short report on the impact of human activities on lunar polar volatiles (e.g., water, carbon dioxide, and methane) and the scientific value of protecting the surface and subsurface regions of the Earth’s Moon from organic and biological contamination.†It provides an overview of the current scientific understanding, value, and potential threat of organic and biological contamination of permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), lunar research relevant to understanding prebiotic evolution and the origin of life, and the likelihood that spacecraft landing on the lunar surface will transfer volatiles to polar cold traps. It also assesses how much and which regions of the Moon’s surface and subsurface warrant protection from organic and biological contamination because of their scientific value.

Author : National Academies Of Sciences Engineeri
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 9780309693721
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Planetary Protection Considerations for Missions to Solar System Small Bodies: Report Series-Committee on Planetary Protection written by National Academies Of Sciences Engineeri and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2023-06-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate goal of planetary protection for outbound missions is to prevent harmful contamination that would inhibit future measurements designed to search for evidence of the existence or evolution of extraterrestrial life. Preventing harmful contamination is achieved by following specific guidelines based on existing scientific knowledge about the destination and the type of mission. This report responds to NASA's request for a study on planetary protection categorization of missions to small bodies, including whether there are particular populations of small bodies for which contamination of one object in the population would not be likely to have a tangible effect on the opportunities for scientific investigation using other objects in the population. In addressing NASA's request, the authoring committee considered surface composition of target bodies and their importance for prebiotic chemistry, along with size of the small-body populations, the current state of knowledge on the types of objects, the likelihood of a future scientific mission returning to any specific object, active object surface processes, and the size.

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309676495
Total Pages : 89 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Assessment of the Report of NASA's Planetary Protection Independent Review Board written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-11-19 with total page 89 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The goal of planetary protection is to control, to the degree possible, the biological cross-contamination of planetary bodies. Guidelines developed by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) are used by all spacefaring nations to guide their preparations for encounters with solar system bodies. NASA's Science Mission Directorate has convened the Planetary Protection Independent Review Board (PPIRB) to consider updating the COSPAR guidelines given the growing interest from commercial and private groups in exploration and utilization of Mars and other bodies in space. At the request of NASA, this publication reviews the findings of the PPIRB and comments on their consistency with the recommendations of the recent National Academies report Review and Assessment of the Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes.

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309478650
Total Pages : 139 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-10-17 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Protecting Earth's environment and other solar system bodies from harmful contamination has been an important principle throughout the history of space exploration. For decades, the scientific, political, and economic conditions of space exploration converged in ways that contributed to effective development and implementation of planetary protection policies at national and international levels. However, the future of space exploration faces serious challenges to the development and implementation of planetary protection policy. The most disruptive changes are associated with (1) sample return from, and human missions to, Mars; and (2) missions to those bodies in the outer solar system possessing water oceans beneath their icy surfaces. Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes addresses the implications of changes in the complexion of solar system exploration as they apply to the process of developing planetary protection policy. Specifically, this report examines the history of planetary protection policy, assesses the current policy development process, and recommends actions to improve the policy development process in the future.

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309461626
Total Pages : 35 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Solar system exploration is in an extraordinary state of expansion. Scientific capabilities to search for evidence of extant or relic life outside Earthâ€"among the principal goals of solar system explorationâ€"are advancing rapidly. In this time of rapid transition in exploring solar system bodies, the importance of reexamining planetary protection policies, including the need for clarity in how NASA establishes such policies, has become more urgent. Overall, this study seeks to review the current state of planetary protection policy development, assess the responsiveness of the policy development process to contemporary and anticipated needs, and recommend actions that might assure the effectiveness of NASA's future coordination and execution of planetary protection. This interim report focuses on the goals of and rationales for planetary protection policies and suggests a working definition of planetary protection consistent with those goals. It does not address future commercial planetary missions, human missions to planetary bodies, or roles and responsibilities for implementing policies, but these issues will be addressed in the final report.

Author : European Science Foundation
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309379040
Total Pages : 81 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions written by European Science Foundation and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-01-15 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Planetary protection is a guiding principle in the design of an interplanetary mission, aiming to prevent biological contamination of both the target celestial body and the Earth. The protection of high-priority science goals, the search for life and the understanding of the Martian organic environment may be compromised if Earth microbes carried by spacecraft are grown and spread on Mars. This has led to the definition of Special Regions on Mars where strict planetary protection measures have to be applied before a spacecraft can enter these areas. At NASA's request, the community-based Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) established the Special Regions Science Analysis Group (SR-SAG2) in October 2013 to examine the quantitative definition of a Special Region and proposed modifications to it, as necessary, based upon the latest scientific results. Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions reviews the conclusions and recommendations contained in MEPAG's SR-SAG2 report and assesses their consistency with current understanding of both the Martian environment and the physical and chemical limits for the survival and propagation of microbial and other life on Earth. This report provides recommendations for an update of the planetary protection requirements for Mars Special Regions.

Author : National Academies Of Sciences Engineeri
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 9780309270694
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection: Evaluation of Bioburden Requirements for Mars Missions written by National Academies Of Sciences Engineeri and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2022-07-07 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 1980s, national and international planetary protection policies have sought to avoid contamination by terrestrial organisms that could compromise future investigations regarding the origin or presence of Martian life. Over the last decade, the number of national space agencies planning, participating in, and undertaking missions to Mars has increased, and private-sector enterprises are engaged in activities designed to enable commercial missions to Mars. The nature of missions to Mars is also evolving to feature more diversity in purposes and technologies. As missions to Mars increase and diversify, national and international processes for developing planetary protection measures recognize the need to consider the interests of scientific discovery, commercial activity, and human exploration. The implications of these changes for planetary protection should be considered in the context of how much science has learned about Mars, and about terrestrial life, in recent years. At the request of NASA, this report identifies criteria for determining locations on Mars potentially suitable for landed robotic missions that satisfy less stringent bioburden requirements, which are intended to manage the risk of forward contamination.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 030909724X
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-04-22 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent spacecraft and robotic probes to Mars have yielded data that are changing our understanding significantly about the possibility of existing or past life on that planet. Coupled with advances in biology and life-detection techniques, these developments place increasing importance on the need to protect Mars from contamination by Earth-borne organisms. To help with this effort, NASA requested that the NRC examine existing planetary protection measures for Mars and recommend changes and further research to improve such measures. This report discusses policies, requirements, and techniques to protect Mars from organisms originating on Earth that could interfere with scientific investigations. It provides recommendations on cleanliness and biological burden levels of Mars-bound spacecraft, methods to reach those levels, and research to reduce uncertainties in preventing forward contamination of Mars.

Author : Victoria Meadows
Publisher : University of Arizona Press
ISBN 13 : 0816540659
Total Pages : 593 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Planetary Astrobiology written by Victoria Meadows and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are we alone in the universe? How did life arise on our planet? How do we search for life beyond Earth? These profound questions excite and intrigue broad cross sections of science and society. Answering these questions is the province of the emerging, strongly interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. Life is inextricably tied to the formation, chemistry, and evolution of its host world, and multidisciplinary studies of solar system worlds can provide key insights into processes that govern planetary habitability, informing the search for life in our solar system and beyond. Planetary Astrobiology brings together current knowledge across astronomy, biology, geology, physics, chemistry, and related fields, and considers the synergies between studies of solar systems and exoplanets to identify the path needed to advance the exploration of these profound questions. Planetary Astrobiology represents the combined efforts of more than seventy-five international experts consolidated into twenty chapters and provides an accessible, interdisciplinary gateway for new students and seasoned researchers who wish to learn more about this expanding field. Readers are brought to the frontiers of knowledge in astrobiology via results from the exploration of our own solar system and exoplanetary systems. The overarching goal of Planetary Astrobiology is to enhance and broaden the development of an interdisciplinary approach across the astrobiology, planetary science, and exoplanet communities, enabling a new era of comparative planetology that encompasses conditions and processes for the emergence, evolution, and detection of life.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309130735
Total Pages : 90 pages
Book Rating : 4.38/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-06-06 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NASA maintains a planetary protection policy to avoid the forward biological contamination of other worlds by terrestrial organisms, and back biological contamination of Earth from the return of extraterrestrial materials by spaceflight missions. Forward-contamination issues related to Mars missions were addressed in a 2006 National Research Council (NRC) book, Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars. However, it has been more than 10 years since back-contamination issues were last examined. Driven by a renewed interest in Mars sample return missions, this book reviews, updates, and replaces the planetary protection conclusions and recommendations contained in the NRC's 1997 report Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. The specific issues addressed in this book include the following: The potential for living entities to be included in samples returned from Mars; Scientific investigations that should be conducted to reduce uncertainty in the above assessment; The potential for large-scale effects on Earth's environment by any returned entity released to the environment; Criteria for intentional sample release, taking note of current and anticipated regulatory frameworks; and The status of technological measures that could be taken on a mission to prevent the inadvertent release of a returned sample into Earth's biosphere.