Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions (2009) / Chapter Skim
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Driven by a renewed interest in Mars sample return missions, this report reviews, updates, and replaces the planetary protection conclusions and recommendations contained in the NRC's 1997 report Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations.2 It is the understanding of the Committee on the Review of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions that its conclusions and recommendations will be developed at the tactical level by subsequent groups specifically charged with the development of implementable protocols for the collection, handling, transfer, quarantine, and release of martian samples. This is the approach that was taken by NASA after its receipt of the 1997 Mars report.
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The changes in the technical and/or policy environment can be organized as follows: • A significant expansion of the size of the Mars exploration community and broadening of the scope of mission activities by both traditional and new space powers -- Chapter 2; • Greater societal awareness of the potential for technical activities to cause harmful changes in the global environment -- Chapter 5; • The de facto internationalization of a Mars sample return mission and subsequent sample-handling, sampleprocessing, sample-analysis, and sample-archiving policies -- Chapter 6; • The drafting and publication by NASA, with the assistance of international partners, of initial Mars sample-handling and biohazard-testing protocols based on the recommendations in the NRC's 1997 Mars report -- Chapter 6; • The development of nondestructive methods of analysis that can be used to map the microscale spatial distribution of minerals and biological elements in samples -- Chapter 6; and • The proliferation of biocontainment facilities driven by biosecurity concerns and associated changes in public policy and with public acceptance of such facilities -- Chapter 7; and • Lessons learned about the practical and logistical aspects of Mars sample return from experience with the Genesis and Stardust missions as well as experience gained from the planning for and commissioning of new biocontainment facilities -- Chapter 7.
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Therefore, the committee concurs with and expands on the 1997 recommendation that no uncontained martian materials should be returned to Earth unless sterilized. Recommendation: Based on current knowledge of past and present habitability of Mars, NASA should continue to maintain a strong and conservative program of planetary protection for Mars sample return.
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Thus, the conclusion reached from assessment of large-scale effects resulting from intentional and natural sample return is that a conservative approach to both containment and test protocols remains the most appropriate response. Scientific Investigations to Reduce Uncertainties Uncertainties in the current assessment of martian habitability and the potential for the inclusion of living entities in samples returned from Mars might be reduced by continuing activities in the following general areas: spacecraft missions to Mars, combined with related laboratory, theoretical, and modeling activities; investigations of the ecological diversity and environmental extremes of terrestrial life; geobiological studies of both modern and ancient Mars-relevant environments on Earth, with particular emphasis on biosignature preservation; and studies relating to the interplanetary transport of viable organisms.
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Changes to the requirements for sample containment or criteria for sample release were issues of concern in the NRC's 1997 report Mars Sample Return, which recommended that: "The planetary protection measures adopted for the first Mars sample-return mission should not be relaxed for subsequent missions without thorough scientific review and concurrence by an appropriate independent oversight body" (p.
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Technological Measures to Prevent the Inadvertent Release of Returned Samples Planetary protection considerations require that martian materials be securely contained within a sample canister for their journey from Mars, through their collection and retrieval on Earth, and in subsequent transport and confinement in an SRF. With respect to the journey from Mars to an SRF, the NRC's 1997 Mars report concluded that the integrity of the seal of the sample canister should be verified and monitored during all phases of a Mars sample return mission.
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Related Issues Two additional important issues not specifically related to an SRF concern independent oversight of planetary protection policies and public engagement in activities related to Mars sample return. The NRC's 1997 Mars report saw a need for high-level oversight of all planetary protection requirements associated with Mars sample return: "A panel of experts, including representatives of relevant governmental and scientific bodies, should be established as soon as possible once serious planning for a Mars sample-return mission has begun, to coordinate regulatory responsibilities and to advise NASA on the implementation of planetary protection measures for sample-return missions.
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Recommendation: The public should be informed about all aspects of Mars sample return, beginning with the earliest stages of mission planning and continuing throughout construction, testing, and operation of a samplereceiving facility. NOTES 1 National Research Council, Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars, The National Academies Press, Wash .
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