NASA’s planetary protection policies revised in response to changes in space exploration

Elaine E. Seasly

doi:10.1117/12.2568132

24 August 2020 NASA’s planetary protection policies revised in response to changes in space exploration

Elaine E. Seasly

Proceedings Volume 11489, Systems Contamination: Prediction, Control, and Performance 2020; 114890B (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2568132
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

Scientific exploration of space is dramatically changing as a result of increasing participation by commercial and private space industries. Missions utilizing SmallSats and CubeSats for exploration are proliferating, and crewed missions to the Moon and Mars are anticipated in the near future. In 2020, NASA will release revisions to policy documents governing planetary protection to reflect the new multi-stakeholder community. These policy documents establish the foundation for practices to control forward contamination during exploration of extraterrestrial solar system bodies and to prevent backward contamination of the Earth/Moon system when extraterrestrial samples are returned to Earth for study. This paper will inform contamination control and planetary protection practitioners about these policy changes, which will clarify planetary protection standards and streamline implementation and verification processes throughout mission life cycles.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Elaine E. Seasly "NASA’s planetary protection policies revised in response to changes in space exploration", Proc. SPIE 11489, Systems Contamination: Prediction, Control, and Performance 2020, 114890B (24 August 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2568132

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