Abstract

Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps and Enabling Science for Human Mars Missions

Highlights

  • Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps 3.1 Natural Transport of Contamination on Mars 3.1.1 Surface/Atmospheric Transport The aerial transportation of terrestrial organisms in the martian atmosphere could bring them to a “Special Region”1 (Rummel et al, 2014) even if a crewed spacecraft lands at a distant “non-special” location

  • In considering human missions to Mars, models and experiments need to factor in additional conditions that will act to buffer or protect Earth microorganisms from biocidal factors on Mars

  • These conditions include: dust loading on spacecraft surfaces (Schuerger et al, 2012); terrain and/or spacecraft shadowing that decreases UV irradiation and wind dispersal of microbes from spacecraft surfaces (Moores et al, 2007); the formation, transport, and shielding efficiency of particulates released from habitats; structural architecture/ site arrangement of landed elements; and the presence of biofilms and other cell debris around attached terrestrial organisms (Billi et al, 2019)

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Summary

Introduction

In considering human missions to Mars, models and experiments need to factor in additional conditions that will act to buffer or protect Earth microorganisms from biocidal factors on Mars These conditions include: dust loading on spacecraft surfaces (Schuerger et al, 2012); terrain and/or spacecraft shadowing that decreases UV irradiation and wind dispersal of microbes from spacecraft surfaces (Moores et al, 2007); the formation, transport, and shielding efficiency of particulates released from habitats; structural architecture/ site arrangement of landed elements (e.g., increased humidity under large structures); and the presence of biofilms and other cell debris around attached terrestrial organisms (Billi et al, 2019). When shielded from UV, oxidative effects in the surface and shallow subsurface environment are predicted to have significant biocidal effects; these effects are still not well-constrained for the martian surface (Kminek et al 2017b)

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