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Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection Evaluation of Bioburden Requirements for Mars Missions (2021) / Chapter Skim
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Summary
Pages 1-4

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From page 1...
... This report responds to NASA's request for a short report by the Committee on Planetary Protection to identify criteria for determining locations on Mars potentially suitable for landed robotic missions that satisfy less stringent bioburden requirements than current NASA policy imposes to manage the risk of forward contamination.1 In this report, the committee attempts to take the increasingly diverse set of mission objectives into account. No scientific consensus exists about how to distinguish extraterrestrial life on another solar system body from contamination by terrestrial organisms carried by spacecraft.
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From page 2...
... do not land or operate near subsurface areas that require continued protection from harmful contamination by terrestrial organisms. In addition, the development of a risk management approach similar to that currently used by NASA and the aerospace industry (though not yet for planetary protection)
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From page 3...
... Finding 8: Planetary protection requirements for Mars missions can be met using a risk management approach as an alternative approach to meeting current NASA planetary protection requirements found in NASA Procedural Requirements Document 8020.012D. Finding 9: In situ bioburden reduction may present a cost-effective alternative or complement to pre launch bioburden control and recontamination prevention measures.
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From page 4...
... BOX S.2 Summary Conclusion: Use of a Risk Management Approach to Comply with Planetary Protection Requirements for Missions to Mars After the planetary protection requirements for a mission to Mars are established, a risk management approach represents a method for the mission to meet those requirements, as an alternative to existing NASA or COSPAR planetary protection policy. This approach would apply a risk management framework that: Step 1.
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Key Terms

  • terrestrial organisms
  • protection requirements
  • management approach
  • indigenous martian
  • bioburden requirements

  • martian subsurface
  • martian life
  • martian organisms
  • subsurface access
  • future investigations

  • extraterrestrial life
  • robotic missions
  • protection protocols
  • protection measures
  • martian surface

  • terrestrial microorganisms
  • relaxed bioburden
  • bioburden reduction
  • uppermost subsurface
  • subsurface regions

  • compromise future
  • mars missions
  • radar surface
  • considering wind
  • determined considering

  • sounding radar
  • current nasa
  • avoiding contamination
  • persistent liquid
  • water ice


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