Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars

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Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars

ljk — 4/4/2006 2:54:16 PM (archived)

Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars

Committee on Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars, National Research Council

166 pages, 8.5 x 11, 2006

Recent spacecraft and robotic probes to Mars have yielded data that are changing our understanding significantly about the possibility of existing or past life on that planet. Coupled with advances in biology and life-detection techniques, these developments place increasing importance on the need to protect Mars from contamination by Earth-borne organisms. To help with this effort, NASA requested that the NRC examine existing planetary protection measures for Mars and recommend changes and further research to improve such measures.

This report discusses policies, requirements, and techniques to protect Mars from organisms originating on Earth that could interfere with scientific investigations. It provides recommendations on cleanliness and biological burden levels of Mars-bound spacecraft, methods to reach those levels, and research to reduce uncertainties in preventing forward contamination of Mars.

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11381.html

The whole thread (38 posts)

Did Earth Seed Life Elsewhere in the Sol System? - ljk - 3/18/2006 6:33:06 PM
- re: Did Earth Seed Life Elsewhere in the Sol System? - GLORIA WU - 4/4/2006 2:11:38 AM
  - Care to elaborate?? (n/t) - ModBob - 4/4/2006 4:29:06 AM
- re: Did Earth Seed Life Elsewhere in the Sol System? - lance - 3/20/2006 2:08:06 AM
- A good way to find out is to send humans to Mars - Scott Evil - 3/19/2006 11:17:49 PM
  - We might be looking for a while - SteveS - 3/20/2006 2:37:54 PM
    - Earth microbes on the moon - REB - 3/23/2006 9:20:50 PM
    - Did we look? - Scott Evil - 3/21/2006 5:35:26 PM
      - I don't think so - SteveS - 3/21/2006 7:14:58 PM
    - re: We might be looking for a while - ljk - 3/20/2006 3:08:53 PM
      - re: We might be looking for a while - SteveS - 3/20/2006 8:13:40 PM
- Our "gravitational well" is very deep. - Jacob Samorodin - 3/19/2006 9:55:40 PM
- Better to pponder when we FIND life elsewhere in the Solar System. (n/t) - et - 3/19/2006 7:29:50 PM
- Possible. - Tom Brosz - 3/19/2006 5:30:37 PM
  - Deinococcus radiodurans - ljk - 3/19/2006 6:30:18 PM
- Unlikely, but plausible. The problem is the survival time - David F Mayer - 3/19/2006 6:10:08 AM
  - re: Unlikely, but plausible. The problem is the survival time - ljk - 3/19/2006 7:33:59 AM
    - But at what radiation levels? (n/t) - DFM - 3/20/2006 4:08:48 PM
- Did it seed the Galaxy? - Adam - 3/19/2006 6:05:51 AM
  - re: Did it seed the Galaxy? - ljk - 3/20/2006 4:14:33 PM
  - re: Did it seed the Galaxy? - ljk - 3/19/2006 6:56:38 AM
    - That's the one - Adam - 3/19/2006 8:23:48 AM
      - re: That's the one - ljk - 3/19/2006 3:51:07 PM
- re: Did Earth Seed Life Elsewhere in the Sol System? - SteveS - 3/19/2006 12:26:51 AM
  - Earth life is much older than that - ljk - 3/19/2006 1:07:12 AM
    - re: Earth life is much older than that - Marcia - 3/19/2006 2:55:42 AM
  - Lot longer than 500 million - dtb - 3/19/2006 12:46:54 AM
    - That's right they are talking bacteria, my bad (n/t) - SteveS - 3/19/2006 12:56:21 AM
      - Earth rocks could have taken life to Titan - ljk - 3/19/2006 9:40:22 PM
        
        re: Earth rocks could have taken life to Titan - SteveS - 3/20/2006 2:47:36 PM
        
        re: very dubious - Andrew - 3/20/2006 6:09:57 AM
        
        Meteroites - Adam - 3/20/2006 9:25:29 AM
        
        re: Meteroites - ljk - 3/20/2006 3:33:52 PM
        
        re: Meteroites-still dubious - Andrew - 3/21/2006 12:42:17 AM
        
        re: Meteroites-still dubious - ljk - 3/21/2006 7:30:53 PM
        
        re: Meteroites-still dubious - pwokenyaw - 3/21/2006 5:43:07 PM
        
        Did life shape Earth's evolution? - ljk - 3/23/2006 6:27:41 PM
        
        Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars - ljk - 4/4/2006 2:54:16 PM

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