The COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy for missions to Mars: ways forward based on current science and knowledge gaps
Karen Olsson-Francis
(1)
,
Peter Doran
(2)
,
Vyacheslav Ilyin
(3)
,
Francois Raulin
(4)
,
Petra Rettberg
(5)
,
Gerhard Kminek
(6)
,
María-Paz Zorzano Mier
(7)
,
Athena Coustenis
(8)
,
Omar Al Shehhi
(9)
,
Eleonora Ammannito
(10)
,
James Bernardini
(11)
,
Masaki Fujimoto
(12)
,
Olivier Grasset
(13)
,
Frank Groen
(11)
,
Alex Hayes
(14)
,
Sarah Gallagher
,
Praveen Kumar K
(15)
,
Christian Mustin
(16)
,
Akiko Nakamura
,
Elaine Seasly
(11)
,
Yohey Suzuki
,
Jing Peng
(17)
,
Olga Prieto-Ballesteros
(7)
,
Silvio Sinibaldi
(6)
,
Kanyan Xu
,
Maxim Zaitsev
1
OU -
The Open University [Milton Keynes]
2 LSU - Louisiana State University
3 State Research Center of The Russian Federation
4 LISA (UMR_7583) - Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques
5 DLR Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrtmedizin
6 ESA - Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency
7 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
8 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics
9 UAESA - UAE Space Agency
10 ASI - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
11 NASA Headquarters
12 ISAS - Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
13 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences [UMR_C 6112]
14 Department of Astronomy [Ithaca]
15 ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation
16 CNES - Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris]
17 HUST - Huazhong University of Science and Technology [Wuhan]
2 LSU - Louisiana State University
3 State Research Center of The Russian Federation
4 LISA (UMR_7583) - Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques
5 DLR Institut für Luft- und Raumfahrtmedizin
6 ESA - Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency
7 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
8 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics
9 UAESA - UAE Space Agency
10 ASI - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
11 NASA Headquarters
12 ISAS - Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
13 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences [UMR_C 6112]
14 Department of Astronomy [Ithaca]
15 ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation
16 CNES - Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris]
17 HUST - Huazhong University of Science and Technology [Wuhan]
Petra Rettberg
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1188048
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4439-2395
María-Paz Zorzano Mier
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1173905
- ORCID : 0000-0002-4492-9650
Athena Coustenis
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 738775
- IdHAL : athena-coustenis
- ORCID : 0000-0003-3414-3491
- IdRef : 095079815
Olivier Grasset
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 841840
- IdHAL : olivier-grasset
- ORCID : 0009-0001-9233-1231
Sarah Gallagher
- Fonction : Auteur
Akiko Nakamura
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1151333
- ORCID : 0000-0001-6990-8496
Yohey Suzuki
- Fonction : Auteur
Olga Prieto-Ballesteros
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1294990
- ORCID : 0000-0002-2278-1210
Kanyan Xu
- Fonction : Auteur
Maxim Zaitsev
- Fonction : Auteur
Résumé
Planetary protection guidance for martian exploration has become a notable point of discussion over the last decade. This is due to increased scientific interest in the habitability of the red planet with updated techniques, missions becoming more attainable by smaller space agencies, and both the private sector and governments engaging in activities to facilitate commercial opportunities and human-crewed missions. The international standards for planetary protection have been developed through consultation with the scientific community and the space agencies by the Committee on Space Research’s (COSPAR) Panel on Planetary Protection, which provides guidance for compliance with the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. In 2021, the Panel evaluated recent scientific data and literature regarding the planetary protection requirements for Mars and the implications of this on the guidelines. In this paper, we discuss the COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy for Mars, review the new scientific findings and discuss the next steps required to enable the next generation of robotic missions to Mars.