Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection Planetary Protection for the Study of Lunar Volatiles (2020) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 3-7
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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.3 These challenges for planetary protection are apparent in growing government and commercial interest in human and robotic missions to the Moon.4 For example, the United States plans to return 1 See NASA, 1999, "NASA Policy Directive on Biological Contamination Control for Outbound and Inbound Planetary Spacecraft," NPD 8020.7G, February 19; NASA, 2017, "NASA Interim Directive on Planetary Protection Provisions for Robotic Extraterrestrial Missions," NID 8020.109A, March 30; and "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies," opened for signature January 27, 1967, 18 U.S.T.
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Establishing different categories for different locations on the Moon could significantly simplify and enhance exploration opportunities for both the civil and private sectors.6 NASA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the PPIRB report and compare it to the conclusions of the National Academies' 2018 report, Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes,7 that reviewed and assessed planetary protection policy development processes. In response to the PPIRB's recommendation that NASA study whether some lunar missions could be Category I rather than Category II for planetary protection purposes, the National Academies' report Assessment of the Report of NASA's Planetary Protection Independent Review Board stated in April 2020: which will be to the lunar poles.
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… Any such endeavor contacting the lunar surface will remain at least a Category II mission until the organic and chemical composition is known and the astrobiological implications are assessed, before ultimately determining whether the resources might be declared available for ISRU.8 In July 2020, NASA issued a new interim directive establishing NASA planetary protection requirements for both robotic and crewed missions to the Moon (hereafter, the Lunar NID) .9 Before issuing this directive, NASA did not complete the formal study on planetary protection categorization of lunar missions that the PPIRB recommended in 2019 and that the National Academies report supported in 2020.
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Representatives of the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection noted for the committee that the survey's results appeared to be consistent with current COSPAR policy for the Moon, but it indicated that there might be a rationale for reducing the organic inventory requirements by focusing on volatile products of spacecraft propulsion and life support systems. CHARGE TO THE COMMITTEE AND STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT In 2020, NASA asked the National Academies' Space Studies Board to establish a standing Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP)
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For its first task, NASA asked the CoPP to prepare a short report on the impact of human activities on polar volatile materials (e.g., water, carbon dioxide, and methane) and the scientific value of protecting the surface and subsurface regions of the Moon from organic and biological contamination.
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