%0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis %@ 978-0-309-48669-9 %D 2019 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25312/strategic-investments-in-instrumentation-and-facilities-for-extraterrestrial-sample-curation-and-analysis %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25312/strategic-investments-in-instrumentation-and-facilities-for-extraterrestrial-sample-curation-and-analysis %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 138 %X The United States possesses a treasure-trove of extraterrestrial samples that were returned to Earth via space missions over the past four decades. Analyses of these previously returned samples have led to major breakthroughs in the understanding of the age, composition, and origin of the solar system. Having the instrumentation, facilities and qualified personnel to undertake analyses of returned samples, especially from missions that take up to a decade or longer from launch to return, is thus of paramount importance if the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is to capitalize fully on the investment made in these missions, and to achieve the full scientific impact afforded by these extraordinary samples. Planetary science may be entering a new golden era of extraterrestrial sample return; now is the time to assess how prepared the scientific community is to take advantage of these opportunities. Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis assesses the current capabilities within the planetary science community for sample return analyses and curation, and what capabilities are currently missing that will be needed for future sample return missions. This report evaluates whether current laboratory support infrastructure and NASA's investment strategy is adequate to meet these analytical challenges and advises how the community can keep abreast of evolving and new techniques in order to stay at the forefront of extraterrestrial sample analysis. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions %@ 978-0-309-13073-8 %D 2009 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12576/assessment-of-planetary-protection-requirements-for-mars-sample-return-missions %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12576/assessment-of-planetary-protection-requirements-for-mars-sample-return-missions %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 90 %X 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. %0 Book %T %D %U %> %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %P %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Evaluating the Biological Potential in Samples Returned from Planetary Satellites and Small Solar System Bodies: Framework for Decision Making %@ 978-0-309-06136-0 %D 1998 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/6281/evaluating-the-biological-potential-in-samples-returned-from-planetary-satellites-and-small-solar-system-bodies %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/6281/evaluating-the-biological-potential-in-samples-returned-from-planetary-satellites-and-small-solar-system-bodies %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %K Biology and Life Sciences %P 116 %X For the first time since the Apollo program, NASA and space agencies abroad have plans to bring samples to Earth from elsewhere in the solar system. There are missions in various stages of definition to gather material over the next decade from Mars, an asteroid, comets, the satellites of Jupiter, and the interplanetary dust. Some of these targets, most especially Jupiter's satellites Europa and Ganymede, now appear to have the potential for harboring living organisms. This book considers the possibility that life may have originated or existed on a body from which a sample might be taken and the possibility that life still exists on the body either in active form or in a form that could be reactivated. It also addresses the potential hazard to terrestrial ecosystems from extraterrestrial life if it exists in a returned sample. Released at the time of the Internationl Committee on Space Research General Assembly, the book has already established the basis for plans for small body sample retruns in the international space research community. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations %@ 978-0-309-05733-2 %D 1997 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5563/mars-sample-return-issues-and-recommendations %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5563/mars-sample-return-issues-and-recommendations %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 58 %X The Space Studies Board of the National Research Council (NRC) serves as the primary adviser to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary protection policy, the purpose of which is to preserve conditions for future biological and organic exploration of planets and other solar system objects and to protect Earth and its biosphere from potential extraterrestrial sources of contamination. In October 1995 the NRC received a letter from NASA requesting that the Space Studies Board examine and provide advice on planetary protection issues related to possible sample-return missions to near-Earth solar system bodies. %0 Book %T Space Studies Board Annual Report 1998 %D 1999 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10075/space-studies-board-annual-report-1998 %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10075/space-studies-board-annual-report-1998 %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %P 132 %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Letter Report: Scientific Assessment of Options for the Disposition of the Galileo Spacecraft %D 2000 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9896/letter-report-scientific-assessment-of-options-for-the-disposition-of-the-galileo-spacecraft %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9896/letter-report-scientific-assessment-of-options-for-the-disposition-of-the-galileo-spacecraft %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %P 9 %0 Book %A National Research Council %T The Quarantine and Certification of Martian Samples %@ 978-0-309-07571-8 %D 2002 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10138/the-quarantine-and-certification-of-martian-samples %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10138/the-quarantine-and-certification-of-martian-samples %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 92 %X One of the highest-priority activities in the planetary sciences identified in published reports of the Space Studies Board's Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) and in reports of other advisory groups is the collection and return of extraterrestrial samples to Earth for study in terrestrial laboratories. In response to recommendations made in such studies, NASA has initiated a vigorous program that will, within the next decade, collect samples from a variety of solar system environments. In particular the Mars Exploration Program is expected to launch spacecraft that are designed to collect samples of martian soil, rocks, and atmosphere and return them to Earth, perhaps as early as 2015.International treaty obligations mandate that NASA conduct such a program in a manner that avoids the cross-contamination of both Earth and Mars. The Space Studies Board's 1997 report Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations examined many of the planetary-protection issues concerning the back contamination of Earth and concluded that, although the probability that martian samples will contain dangerous biota is small, it is not zero.1 Steps must be taken to protect Earth against the remote possibility of contamination by life forms that may have evolved on Mars. Similarly, the samples, collected at great expense, must be protected against contamination by terrestrial biota and other matter. Almost certainly, meeting these requirements will entail opening the sample-return container in an appropriate facility on Earth-presumably a BSL-4 laboratory-where testing, biosafety certification, and quarantine of the samples will be carried out before aliquots are released to the scientific community for study in existing laboratory facilities. The nature of the required quarantine facility, and the decisions required for disposition of samples once they are in it, were regarded as issues of sufficient importance and complexity to warrant a study by the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) in isolation from other topics. (Previous studies have been much broader, including also consideration of the mission that collects samples on Mars and brings them to Earth, atmospheric entry, sample recovery, and transport to the quarantine facility.) The charge to COMPLEX stated that the central question to be addressed in this study is the following: What are the criteria that must be satisfied before martian samples can be released from a quarantine facility? %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Venus Missions: Letter Report %D 2006 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11584/assessment-of-planetary-protection-requirements-for-venus-missions-letter-report %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11584/assessment-of-planetary-protection-requirements-for-venus-missions-letter-report %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %P 16 %X In 2005, the Planetary Protection Office of NASA asked the NRC to advise the Office on planetary protection concerns about missions to and from Venus. In particular, the NRC was asked to assess whether the surface and atmospheric environments of Venus might be capable of supporting microbial contamination from Earth, and, if so, to recommend prevention measures for future missions; to recommend planetary protection measures associated with return of samples from Venus to Earth; and to identify specific scientific investigations that may be needed to reduce any uncertainty in those assessments. This letter report provides a review of scientific considerations and past NRC studies on the issue; brief assessments of the key topics affecting the potential for forward and back contamination; a review of planetary protection considerations; and conclusions and recommendations. %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection: Interim Report %@ 978-0-309-46162-7 %D 2017 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24809/the-goals-rationales-and-definition-of-planetary-protection-interim-report %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24809/the-goals-rationales-and-definition-of-planetary-protection-interim-report %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 34 %X Solar system exploration is in an extraordinary state of expansion. Scientific capabilities to search for evidence of extant or relic life outside Earth—among the principal goals of solar system exploration—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. %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes %@ 978-0-309-47865-6 %D 2018 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25172/review-and-assessment-of-planetary-protection-policy-development-processes %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25172/review-and-assessment-of-planetary-protection-policy-development-processes %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 138 %X 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. %0 Book %T Post-Viking Biological Investigations of Mars %D 1977 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12380/post-viking-biological-investigations-of-mars %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12380/post-viking-biological-investigations-of-mars %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 35 %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T Planetary Protection Classification of Sample Return Missions from the Martian Moons %@ 978-0-309-48859-4 %D 2019 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25357/planetary-protection-classification-of-sample-return-missions-from-the-martian-moons %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25357/planetary-protection-classification-of-sample-return-missions-from-the-martian-moons %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 74 %X An international consensus policy to prevent the biological cross-contamination of planetary bodies exists and is maintained by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) of the International Council for Science, which is consultative to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Currently, COSPAR's planetary protection policy does not specify the status of sample-return missions from Phobos or Deimos, the moons of Mars. Although the moons themselves are not considered potential habitats for life or of intrinsic relevance to prebiotic chemical evolution, recent studies indicate that a significant amount of material recently ejected from Mars could be present on the surface of Phobos and, to a lesser extent, Deimos. This report reviews recent theoretical, experimental, and modeling research on the environments and physical conditions encountered by Mars ejecta during certain processes. It recommends whether missions returning samples from Phobos and/or Deimos should be classified as "restricted" or "unrestricted" Earth return in the framework of the planetary protection policy maintained by COSPAR. This report also considers the specific ways the classification of sample return from Deimos is a different case than sample return from Phobos. %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T Planetary Protection Considerations for Missions to Solar System Small Bodies: Report Series—Committee on Planetary Protection %@ 978-0-309-69372-1 %D 2023 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26714/planetary-protection-considerations-for-missions-to-solar-system-small-bodies %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26714/planetary-protection-considerations-for-missions-to-solar-system-small-bodies %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 64 %X 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. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Assessment of Mars Science and Mission Priorities %@ 978-0-309-08917-3 %D 2003 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10715/assessment-of-mars-science-and-mission-priorities %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10715/assessment-of-mars-science-and-mission-priorities %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 144 %X Within the Office of Space Science of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) special importance is attached to exploration of the planet Mars, because it is the most like Earth of the planets in the solar system and the place where the first detection of extraterrestrial life seems most likely to be made. The failures in 1999 of two NASA missions—Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander—caused the space agency's program of Mars exploration to be systematically rethought, both technologically and scientifically. A new Mars Exploration Program plan (summarized in Appendix A) was announced in October 2000. The Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX), a standing committee of the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council, was asked to examine the scientific content of this new program. This goals of this report are the following: -Review the state of knowledge of the planet Mars, with special emphasis on findings of the most recent Mars missions and related research activities; -Review the most important Mars research opportunities in the immediate future; -Review scientific priorities for the exploration of Mars identified by COMPLEX (and other scientific advisory groups) and their motivation, and consider the degree to which recent discoveries suggest a reordering of priorities; and -Assess the congruence between NASA's evolving Mars Exploration Program plan and these recommended priorities, and suggest any adjustments that might be warranted. %0 Book %T On NASA's Mars Sample Return Mission Options: Letter Report %D 1996 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12283/on-nasas-mars-sample-return-mission-options-letter-report %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12283/on-nasas-mars-sample-return-mission-options-letter-report %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 19 %0 Book %A National Research Council %T New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy %D 2003 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10432/new-frontiers-in-the-solar-system-an-integrated-exploration-strategy %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10432/new-frontiers-in-the-solar-system-an-integrated-exploration-strategy %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 248 %X Solar system exploration is that grand human endeavor which reaches out through interplanetary space to discover the nature and origins of the system of planets in which we live and to learn whether life exists beyond Earth. It is an international enterprise involving scientists, engineers, managers, politicians, and others, sometimes working together and sometimes in competition, to open new frontiers of knowledge. It has a proud past, a productive present, and an auspicious future. This survey was requested by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to determine the contemporary nature of solar system exploration and why it remains a compelling activity today. A broad survey of the state of knowledge was requested. In addition NASA asked for the identifcation of the top-level scientific questions to guide its ongoing program and a prioritized list of the most promising avenues for flight investigations and supporting ground-based activities. %0 Book %T Assessment of NASA's Mars Exploration Architecture: Letter Report %D 1998 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12269/assessment-of-nasas-mars-exploration-architecture-letter-report %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12269/assessment-of-nasas-mars-exploration-architecture-letter-report %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 22 %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Assessment of NASA's Mars Architecture 2007-2016 %@ 978-0-309-10273-5 %D 2006 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11717/assessment-of-nasas-mars-architecture-2007-2016 %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11717/assessment-of-nasas-mars-architecture-2007-2016 %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 62 %X The United States and the former Soviet Union have sent spacecraft to mars as early as 1966, with Mars' exploration being priority for NASA spacecraft. Both sides, however, have failed as well as succeed. The inability to determine if life exists on Mars is considered one of NASA's failures and undercut political support for additional Mars missions in the U.S. until the launch of the Mars Observer in 1992. Thus, the exploration of life on Mars continues, but with a new approach. Assessment of NASA's Mars Architecture, 2007-2016 is an assessment by the Committee to Review the Next Decade Mars Architecture of the National Research Council (NRC) conducted by request of Dr. Mary Cleave, NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. The Committee addresses the following questions: Is the Mars architecture reflective of the strategies, priorities, and guidelines put forward by the National Research Council's solar system exploration decadal survey and related science strategies and NASA plans?, Does the revised Mars architecture address the goals of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and optimize the science return, given the current fiscal posture of the program?, and Does the Mars architecture represent a reasonably balanced mission portfolio? After several months of study, consideration and incorporation of the guidance from NRC studies, especially New Frontiers in the Solar System, and the Vision for Space Exploration; community consultations via individual inputs; and a MEPAG-sponsored working group, a plan was created. This report includes the plan, which has an Astrobiology Field Laboratory or two Mild Rovers mission planned for 2016, recommendations from the committee, NRC guidelines for mars exploration, and more. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Signs of Life: A Report Based on the April 2000 Workshop on Life Detection Techniques %@ 978-0-309-08306-5 %D 2002 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10265/signs-of-life-a-report-based-on-the-april-2000 %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10265/signs-of-life-a-report-based-on-the-april-2000 %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Space and Aeronautics %P 226 %X A workshop to assess the science and technology of life detection techniques was organized by the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life (COEL) of the Board on Life Sciences (BLS) and the Space Studies Board (SSB). Topics discussed in the workshop included the search for extraterrestrial life in situ and in the laboratory, extant life and the signature of extinct life, and determination of the point of origin (terrestrial or not) of detected organisms.