Abstract
To ensure that scientific investments in space exploration are not compromised by terrestrial contamination of celestial bodies, special care needs to be taken to preserve planetary conditions for future astrobiological exploration. Significant effort has been made and is being taken to address planetary protection in the context of inner Solar System exploration. In particular for missions to Mars, detailed internationally accepted guidelines have been established. For missions to the icy moons in the outer Solar System, Europa and Enceladus, the planetary protection requirements are so far based on a probabilistic approach and a conservative estimate of poorly known parameters. One objective of the European Commission-funded project, Planetary Protection of Outer Solar System, was to assess the existing planetary protection approach, to identify inherent knowledge gaps, and to recommend scientific investigations necessary to update the requirements for missions to the icy moons.
Highlights
Introduction to Planetary ProtectionFrom the dawn of space exploration, the international scientific community raised concerns regarding potential lunar and planetary contamination
Some of the information necessary for the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Planetary Protection implementation measures for icy moons and other outer Solar System bodies can only be obtained by future space missions and research projects
An alternative approach to the current COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy was suggested by the Committee on Planetary Protection Standards for Icy Bodies in the outer Solar System in 2012 in the report ‘‘The Assessment of Planetary Requirements for Spacecraft Missions to Icy Solar System Bodies’’ (Sogin et al, 2012)
Summary
In addition to the general assignment of target mission types to planetary protection categories, the COSPAR Planetary Protection policy states in its appendix ‘‘that requirements for Europa and Enceladus flybys, orbiters and landers, including bioburden reduction, shall be applied in order to reduce the probability of inadvertent contamination of an europan ocean to less than 1 · 10-4 per mission.’’ These requirements, based on the Coleman–Sagan formulation of contamination risk, will be refined in future years, but the
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