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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
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Safe on Mars

Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface

Committee on Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Surface of Mars

Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board Space Studies Board

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
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NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.Washington, DC20418

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contracts No. NASW-96013 and No. NASW-99037 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number: 0-309-08426-1

Cover: “First Light,” by Pat Rawlings and commissioned by NASA, depicts the first human travelers to Mars exploring the enormous Noctis Labyrinthus canyon system. Just after sunrise, early morning fog masks the canyon floor 4 miles below. These scientists-explorers conduct geological and meteorological research in order to help us better understand the characteristics of our sister planet and possibly our own Earth. Reproduced courtesy of the artist and NASA.

Available in limited supply from Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, HA 292, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20418, (202) 334-2855

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2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Box 285, Washington, DC20055, 1-800-624-6242or (202) 334-3313(in the Washington metropolitan area), http://www.nap.edu

Copyright 2002 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

National Academy of Sciences

National Academy of Engineering

Institute of Medicine

National Research Council

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of further-ing knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general poli-cies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×

COMMITTEE ON PRECURSOR MEASUREMENTS NECESSARY TO SUPPORT HUMAN OPERATIONS ON THE SURFACE OF MARS

FREDERICK H. HAUCK, Chair,

AXA Space, Bethesda, Maryland

HARRY Y. McSWEEN, JR., Vice Chair,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

CYNTHIA BREAZEAL,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

BENTON C. CLARK,

Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colorado

VON R. ESHLEMAN,

Stanford University (retired), Palo Alto, California

JOHN HAAS,

Applied Research Associates, South Royalton, Vermont

JON B. REID,

Consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio

JONATHAN RICHMOND,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

RONALD E. TURNER,

ANSER Corporation, Arlington, Virginia

WILLIAM L. WHITTAKER,

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Staff

DOUGLAS H. BENNETT, Study Director,

Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

SANDRA J. GRAHAM, Senior Program Officer,

Space Studies Board

GEORGE LEVIN, Director,

Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

JOSEPH ALEXANDER, Director,

Space Studies Board

BRIDGET EDMONDS (from July 2, 2001), Senior Project Assistant,

Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

MARY LOU AQUILO (February 1, 2001, until July 2, 2001), Senior Project Assistant,

Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

ANNA L. FARRAR, Financial Associate,

Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board

VERNELLE C. MENKIR, Financial Associate,

Space Studies Board

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×

AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ENGINEERING BOARD

WILLIAM W. HOOVER, Chair,

United States Air Force (retired), Williamsburg, Virginia

A. DWIGHT ABBOTT,

Aerospace Corporation (retired), Los Angeles, California

RUZENA K. BAJSCY,

NAE, IOM, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia

WILLIAM F. BALLHAUS, JR.,

NAE, Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, California

JAMES BLACKWELL,

Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired), Atlanta, Georgia

ANTHONY J. BRODERICK,

Aviation Safety Consultant, Catlett, Virginia

DONALD L. CROMER,

United States Air Force (retired), Lompoc, California

ROBERT A. DAVIS,

The Boeing Company (retired), Seattle, Washington

JOSEPH FULLER, JR.,

Futron Corporation, Bethesda, Maryland

RICHARD GOLASZEWSKI,

GRA Inc., Jenkintown, Pennsylvania

JAMES M. GUYETTE,

Rolls-Royce North America, Reston, Virginia

FREDERICK H. HAUCK,

AXA Space, Bethesda, Maryland

JOHN L. JUNKINS,

NAE, Texas A&M University, College Station

JOHN K. LAUBER,

Airbus Industrie of North America, Washington, D.C.

GEORGE K. MUELLNER,

The Boeing Company, Seal Beach, California

DAVA J. NEWMAN,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

JAMES G. O'CONNOR,

NAE, Pratt & Whitney (retired), Coventry, Connecticut

MALCOLM R. O'NEILL,

Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired), Bethesda, Maryland

CYNTHIA SAMUELSON,

Opsis Technologies, Springfield, Virginia

WINSTON E. SCOTT,

Florida State University, Tallahassee

KATHRYN C. THORNTON,

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

DIANNE S. WILEY,

The Boeing Company, Long Beach, California

THOMAS L. WILLIAMS,

Northrop Grumman, El Segundo, California

GEORGE LEVIN, Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×

SPACE STUDIES BOARD

JOHN H. McELROY, Chair,

University of Texas at Arlington (retired)

ROGER P. ANGEL,

University of Arizona

JAMES P. BAGIAN,

Veterans Health Administration's National Center for Patient Safety

JAMES L. BURCH,

Southwest Research Institute

RADFORD BYERLY, JR.,

University of Colorado

ROBERT E. CLELAND,

University of Washington

HOWARD M. EINSPAHR,

Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute

STEVEN H. FLAJSER,

Loral Space and Communications, Ltd.

MICHAEL H. FREILICH,

Oregon State University

DON P. GIDDENS,

Georgia Institute of Technology/Emory University

RALPH H. JACOBSON,

Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

CONWAY LEOVY,

University of Washington

JONATHAN I. LUNINE,

University of Arizona

BRUCE D. MARCUS,

TRW (retired)

RICHARD A. McCRAY,

University of Colorado

HARRY Y. McSWEEN, JR.,

University of Tennessee

GARY J. OLSEN,

University of Illinois

GEORGE A. PAULIKAS,

The Aerospace Corporation (retired)

ROBERT J. SERAFIN,

National Center for Atmospheric Research

EUGENE B. SKOLNIKOFF,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MITCHELL SOGIN,

Marine Biological Laboratory

C. MEGAN URRY,

Yale University

PETER W. VOORHEES,

Northwestern University

JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER, Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×

Preface

Humankind's fascination with Mars predates recorded history. The bright planet with the reddish tint is unique among the other celestial objects. Tycho Brahe's observations of its unpredictable motion were deciphered by Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century as he developed his laws of planetary motion. Galileo trained his telescope on Mars and saw it as a disk in 1610. Later in the 1600s, Christiaan Huygens and Gian Cassini drew the first maps of the Martian surface. In the late 18th century, Sir William Herschel, astronomer to King George III, measured the tilt of the planet's axis and noted the Martian atmosphere and its seasons. As recently as the beginning of the 20th century, the respected American astronomer Percival Lowell was writing popularly about Martians populat-ing a planet hospitable to a life-form, if not to a human life-form.

During the space race of the late 20th century, U.S. and Soviet space programs sent the Mariner, Viking, and Mars probes to study the planet during fly-bys, from orbit, and on the Martian surface. In July 1997, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) landed on Mars and released its tiny rover, Sojourner Truth. Anyone with access to the Internet could monitor its meanders, see the Martian landscape through its eyes, and get updates on the Martian weather.

Debate as to which agent, robot or human, is likely to reap the greatest rewards in the future exploration of Mars is outmoded and has evolved in the last decade into a discussion of how the two may complement each other.1,2 In pursuing answers to this question, NASA has channeled the energies of the robotic and human exploration communities to “optimize the use of humans and robots to increase the pace of discovery at multiple destinations.”3 It sponsored the present study to assist it in validating the requirements identified by these communities, specifically as they relate to the preparation for human exploration of Mars. The statement of task for this study is included as Appendix A.

The Committee on Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Surface of Mars was confronted with the dilemma of being charged to “emphasize those technological issues which are directly relevant to managing environmental, chemical, and biological risks to humans operating on Mars” while recognizing that a major objective of such human missions will certainly be to search for (possibly hazardous) life on Mars. The committee took the approach of addressing only the earliest human missions to Mars, when the unknowns are the greatest and the steps taken must be the most cautious.

The members of the committee (see Appendix B) were appointed by the National Research Council

1  

NRC (National Research Council), 1993, Scientific Prerequi-sites for the Human Exploration of Space, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

2  

NRC, 1994, Scientific Opportunities in the Human Exploration of Space, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

3  

James Garvin, NASA, “Human Exploration Vision,” briefing to the committee on May 30, 2001.

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×

(NRC). They were chosen for their expertise and ability to provide independent judgments, thereby fulfilling the study charter.

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Vincent Castranova, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,

Christopher Chyba, Stanford University,

Pamela Conrad, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

Ann Druyan, Cosmos Studios,

Helen Evans, Case Western Reserve University,

Stephen Gorevan, Honeybee Robotics,

Noel Hinners, Lockheed Martin Astronautics,

Andrij Holian, University of Montana,

Glenn MacPherson, United States National Museum of Natural History,

Jeffrey Streator, Georgia Institute of Technology,

Lawrence Townsend, University of Tennessee, and

Ward Winer, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Louis Lanzerotti (NAE) of Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of the report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Respon-sibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

The committee also wishes to thank those in NASA who were so thorough in informing the committee and NRC staff, who facilitated the entire process. The committee would particularly like to recognize the efforts of the study director, Douglas Bennett, who diligently kept us on course and on time.

Frederick H. Hauck, Chair

Committee on Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human

Operations on the Surface of Mars

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
×

Tables, Figure, and Boxes

TABLES

 2.1

 

Exposure Limits for Some Respirable Chemical Hazards,

 

13

 3.1

 

Compositions of Five Different Martian Regolith Scenarios,

 

25

 3.2

 

Effect of Hydrogen and Iron Content on Absorbed Radiation Dose,

 

25

 4.1

 

Representative Listing of Reference Concentrations for Cancer-Causing Compounds and for the Noncancerous Effects of Those Compounds from EPA's IRIS Database,

 

29

 4.2

 

Element Detection Capability on the Viking Landers,

 

30

 4.3

 

Toxic Metal Inhalation Risk,

 

31

 4.4

 

EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Concentrations,

 

33

FIGURE

 5.1

 

Mars biology testing protocol,

 

42

BOXES

 2.1

 

The Anatomy of a Critical System,

 

11

 2.2

 

Exposure Limits for Chemical Hazards,

 

13

 3.1

 

Definitions of Martian Regolith, Soil, and Dust,

 

16

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2002. Safe on Mars: Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Martian Surface. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10360.
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This study, commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), examines the role of robotic exploration missions in assessing the risks to the first human missions to Mars. Only those hazards arising from exposure to environmental, chemical, and biological agents on the planet are assessed. To ensure that it was including all previously identified hazards in its study, the Committee on Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Surface of Mars referred to the most recent report from NASA's Mars Exploration Program/ Payload Analysis Group (MEPAG) (Greeley, 2001). The committee concluded that the requirements identified in the present NRC report are indeed the only ones essential for NASA to pursue in order to mitigate potential hazards to the first human missions to Mars.

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