Report Series - Committee on Planetary Protection
Planetary Protection for the Study of Lunar Volatiles
Committee on Planetary Protection
Space Studies Board
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
Board on Life Sciences
Division on Earth and Life Studies
A Consensus Study Report of
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Washington, DC
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This study is based on work supported by Contract NNH17CB02B with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any agency or organization that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-16191-6
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-16191-6
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26029
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection: Planetary Protection for the Study of Lunar Volatiles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26029.
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COMMITTEE ON PLANETARY PROTECTION
JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER, Alexander Space Policy Consultants, Chair
ANGEL ABBUD-MADRID, Colorado School of Mines
ANTHONY COLAPRETE, NASA Ames Research Center
MICHAEL J. DALY, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
DAVID P. FIDLER, Council on Foreign Relations
SARAH A. GAVIT, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
AMANDA R. HENDRIX, Planetary Science Institute
ANDREW D. HORCHLER, Astrobotic Technology, Inc.
DAVID M. KARL, NAS1, University of Hawaii at Manoa
EUGENE H. LEVY, Rice University
ROBERT E. LINDBERG, JR., Independent Consultant
MARGARITA M. MARINOVA, Independent Consultant
A. DEANNE ROGERS, Stony Brook University, The State University of New York
GERHARD H. SCHWEHM, European Space Agency (retired)
TRISTA J. VICK MAJORS, Michigan Technological University
Staff
DANIEL NAGASAWA, Program Officer, Space Studies Board, Study Director
KATHERINE BOWMAN, Senior Program Officer, Board on Life Sciences
MIA BROWN, Research Associate, Space Studies Board
MEGAN CHAMBERLAIN, Senior Program Assistant, Space Studies Board
COLLEEN HARTMAN, Director, Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board
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1 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
SPACE STUDIES BOARD
MARGARET G. KIVELSON, NAS,1 University of California, Los Angeles, Chair
JAMES H. CROCKER, NAE,2 Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (Retired), Vice Chair
GREGORY P. ASNER, NAS, Carnegie Institution for Science
JEFF M. BINGHAM, U.S. Senate (Retired)
ADAM BURROWS, NAS, Princeton University
MARY LYNNE DITTMAR, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration
JEFF DOZIER, University of California, Santa Barbara
VICTORIA HAMILTON, Southwest Research Institute
CHRYSSA KOUVELIOTOU, NAS, George Washington University
DENNIS P. LETTENMAIER, NAE, University of California, Los Angeles
ROSALY M. LOPES, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
STEPHEN J. MACKWELL, American Institute of Physics
DAVID J. MCCOMAS, Princeton University
LARRY J. PAXTON, Johns Hopkins University
ELIOT QUATAERT, University of California, Berkeley
MARK SAUNDERS, Independent Consultant
BARBARA SHERWOOD LOLLAR, University of Toronto
HOWARD SINGER, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
HARLAN E. SPENCE, University of New Hampshire
MARK H. THIEMENS, NAS, University of California, San Diego
ERIKA B WAGNER, Blue Origin, LLC
PAUL D. WOOSTER, Space Exploration Technologies
EDWARD L. WRIGHT, NAS, University of California, Los Angeles
Staff
COLLEEN HARTMAN, Director, Space Studies Board
TANJA PILZAK, Manager, Program Operations
CELESTE A. NAYLOR, Information Management Associate
MARGARET A. KNEMEYER, Financial Officer
RADAKA LIGHTFOOT, Financial Associate
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
2 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
BOARD ON LIFE SCIENCES
BARBARA A. SCHAAL, NAS,1 Washington University in St. Louis, Chair
A. ALONSO AGUIRRE, George Mason University
VALERIE H. BONHAM, Ropes & Gray LLP
DOMINIQUE BROSSARD, University of Wisconsin–Madison
NANCY D. CONNELL, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
SEAN M. DECATUR, Kenyon College
SCOTT V. EDWARDS, NAS,3 Harvard University
GERALD L. EPSTEIN, National Defense University
ROBERT J. FULL, University of California, Berkeley
ROBERT NEWMAN, The Aspen Institute
STEPHEN J. O’BRIEN, NAS,3 Nova Southeastern University
LUCILA OHNO-MACHADO, NAM,2 University of California, San Diego
CLAIRE POMEROY, NAM,4 Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation
SUSAN RUNDELL SINGER, Rollins College
DAVID R. WALT, NAE, NAM, 3 Harvard Medical School
PHYLLIS M. WISE, NAM,4 University of Colorado
Staff
KAVITA BERGER, Director
FRAN SHARPLES, Advisor
JO HUSBANDS, Scholar and Senior Project Director
KATHERINE BOWMAN, Senior Program Officer
ANDREA HODGSON, Senior Program Officer
KEEGAN SAWYER, Senior Program Officer
STEVEN MOSS, Program Officer
AUDREY THÉVENON, Program Officer
MATTHEW ANDERSON, Financial Business Partner
JESSICA DE MOUY, Senior Program Assistant
KOSSANA YOUNG, Senior Program Assistant
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
2 Member, National Academy of Medicine.
3 Member, National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine.
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Preface
The Space Studies Board (SSB; and its predecessor, the Space Science Board) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has been involved in shaping the United States’ planetary protection policy for 60 years. Through those years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sponsored studies through the SSB, seeking independent, scientific advice on how to craft its planetary protection policies. NASA’s policies, in turn, have formed a basis upon which the global space science community has developed consensus international planetary protection policies through the International Council of Science’s (ICSU’s) Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).
In 2016, NASA asked the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science under the SSB to perform a study on the development of planetary protection policies. The resultant report, Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes, released in 2018, and a separate 2019 report of NASA’s Planetary Protection Independent Review Board.1 Both studies concluded that there was a need for NASA to “reestablish an independent and appropriate advisory body and process to help guide formulation and implementation of planetary protection adequate to serve the best interests of the public, the NASA program, and the variety of new entrants that may become active in deep space operations in the years ahead.”2 At NASA’s request, the newest discipline committee of the SSB was formed in July 2020, the Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP), to serve as the standing forum for the discussion of planetary protection issues critical to NASA.
For the Committee’s first report, Science Mission Directorate and Office of Safety and Mission Assurance leadership requested that the CoPP draft a short report on the impact of human activities, both crewed and robotic, on the polar volatiles and the scientific value of protecting the surface and subsurface regions of Earth’s Moon from organic and biological contamination. Lunar exploration is a dynamic and timely subject, with activities such as the new Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and the preparations for the return of humans to the lunar surface in the Artemis program, and this was reflected in the discussions within the CoPP and from external presenters at its meetings.
To gather information and discuss the issues, the CoPP met five times in 2020, virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the following dates: September 4, September 18, September 23, September 29, and October 2. A completed draft of this report was assembled on October 14, 2020.
The committee would like to thank Penelope Boston (NASA), Athena Coustenis (Paris Observatory), Dana Hurley (Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory), Niklas Hedman (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs), Gerhard Kminek (European Space Agency), Clive Neal (University of Notre Dame), David Paige (University of California, Los Angeles), Noah Petro (NASA), Carle Pieters (Brown University), Lisa Pratt (NASA), and Parvathy Prem (Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory) for their presentations to the CoPP. We also thank Jason Dworkin (NASA) for splinter conversations and Scott Hubbard (Stanford University) and John Rummel (SETI) for informative email correspondences.
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1 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2020, Assessment of the Report of NASA’s Planetary Protection Independent Review Board, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, https://doi.org/10.17226/25773.
2 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018, Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, https://doi.org/10.17226/25172, Recommendation 3.6.
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, 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 thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Jeremy W. Boyce, NASA Johnson Space Center,
Terry A. Hurford, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Paul G. Falkowski, NAS,1 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey,
Paul G. Lucey, University of Hawaii,
Parvathy Prem, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, and
Erika B. Wagner, Blue Origin, LLC.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Louis J. Lanzerotti, NAS,1 New Jersey Institute of Technology. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
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