Three different types of contamination
•One - by solid materials, wastes (reversible)
•Two - from gas and liquids, eg Carbon Dioxide CO2, Methane CH4. Diffuses (irreversible)
•Three – Biological contamination - proliferates (limited reversibility), Remedy – medicinal solution or quarantining (Debus, 2006).
Planetary protection requirements
•are in place for robotic missions to the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies,
•for human missions there are only qualitative principles and guidelines (detailed requirements under development by NASA-NPI 8020.7) (Race et al, 2015)
Knowledge gaps across the three (NASA) pre-identified areas re extra-terrestrial missions:
•Study Group 1: Microbial and Human Health Monitoring
a. issues related to mission and systems design.
b. issues re continued monitoring of terrestrial microbes
•Study Group 2: Technology & Operations for Contamination Control (seven knowledge gaps)
•Study Group 3: Natural Transport of Contamination on Mars (thirteen discussion topics) (Race et al, 2015)
Planetary protection requirements
•are in place for robotic missions to the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies (2017 NID), but these are inadequate (NAS, 2018)
•for human missions there are only qualitative principles and guidelines. Detailed requirements are under development by NASA-NPI 8020.7. (Race et al, 2015), (NAS, 2018)
USSR Lunokhod 1 lunar rover (NASA)
Summary of spacecraft debris sites on the moon:
•Spacecraft crashed into the moon: 53
•Spacecraft soft-landed on the moon: 23 (Dworkin et al, 2017)
Historical hygiene status of the spacecraft at launch
•most were not sterilized, thus delivering both biological and organic contaminants to the regolith (moon’s surface)
•complied with the existing hygiene legal requirements for planetary protection (Glavin et al 2010)
Image to the right: USSR Lunokhod 1 lunar rover (NASA)
Contamination risk for Asteroids, Mars and beyond
•Mars. Approx. 30 robotic exploration missions have resulted in 5 or 6 tons of
hardware on Mars surface up to 2006 (Debus, 2006).
•Mars Lander/Rover missions since 2006. Three successful (NASA). One crashed (ESA).
•Protecting Earth's environment and other solar system bodies from harmful contamination has been an important principle throughout the history of space exploration.
•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. (NAS, 2018)
•One - by solid materials, wastes (reversible)
•Two - from gas and liquids, eg Carbon Dioxide CO2, Methane CH4. Diffuses (irreversible)
•Three – Biological contamination - proliferates (limited reversibility), Remedy – medicinal solution or quarantining (Debus, 2006).
Planetary protection requirements
•are in place for robotic missions to the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies,
•for human missions there are only qualitative principles and guidelines (detailed requirements under development by NASA-NPI 8020.7) (Race et al, 2015)
Knowledge gaps across the three (NASA) pre-identified areas re extra-terrestrial missions:
•Study Group 1: Microbial and Human Health Monitoring
a. issues related to mission and systems design.
b. issues re continued monitoring of terrestrial microbes
•Study Group 2: Technology & Operations for Contamination Control (seven knowledge gaps)
•Study Group 3: Natural Transport of Contamination on Mars (thirteen discussion topics) (Race et al, 2015)
Planetary protection requirements
•are in place for robotic missions to the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies (2017 NID), but these are inadequate (NAS, 2018)
•for human missions there are only qualitative principles and guidelines. Detailed requirements are under development by NASA-NPI 8020.7. (Race et al, 2015), (NAS, 2018)
USSR Lunokhod 1 lunar rover (NASA)
Summary of spacecraft debris sites on the moon:
•Spacecraft crashed into the moon: 53
•Spacecraft soft-landed on the moon: 23 (Dworkin et al, 2017)
Historical hygiene status of the spacecraft at launch
•most were not sterilized, thus delivering both biological and organic contaminants to the regolith (moon’s surface)
•complied with the existing hygiene legal requirements for planetary protection (Glavin et al 2010)
Image to the right: USSR Lunokhod 1 lunar rover (NASA)
Contamination risk for Asteroids, Mars and beyond
•Mars. Approx. 30 robotic exploration missions have resulted in 5 or 6 tons of
hardware on Mars surface up to 2006 (Debus, 2006).
•Mars Lander/Rover missions since 2006. Three successful (NASA). One crashed (ESA).
•Protecting Earth's environment and other solar system bodies from harmful contamination has been an important principle throughout the history of space exploration.
•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. (NAS, 2018)