DEVELOPING PLANETARY PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR HUMAN MARS MISSIONSOverview of Recent Workshops, Findings and Progress

M.S. Race1, J.A. Spry1, B. Siegel 2 , G. Kminek3, C. Conley4, and Workshop Participants1. SETI Institute 2. NASA HQ/HEOMD 3. ESA PP Officer, 4. former NASA PP Officer

Filling Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Future Mars Human Missions:

Stepwise Progress in Identifying & Integrating Science & Technology Needs

ü NASA and COSPAR are engaged in a multi-year stepwise process to identify, prioritize & plan the research and technology development (R&TD) needed for addressing planetary protection (PP) requirements for human missions beyond Earth orbit.

ü The objective is to move incrementally from the existing qualitative COSPAR PP Principles and Operating Guidelines towards development of future quantitative PP requirements for human missions to habitable locations like Mars.

ü The current stepwise process, begun in 2012, has progressed via a series of workshops involving NASA, COSPAR, international space agencies, the scientific/technical community.

üMicrobial & Health Monitoring1. What microbial sampling and collection technology & procedures should be used?

2. What are appropriate technologies for microbial monitoring to mitigate risks to crew, ensure PP & sci. integrity?

3. What technol/procedures to be used for sample processing to reduce crew time & mitigate contamination concerns?

4. What technologies & procedures should be used for data collection, storage, & interpretation during missions?5. Understand spaceflight specific microbial responses & changes during extended spaceflight to planet

6. What is needed to monitor microbial populations of astronauts, vehicles and external environments?7. Need novel approaches for low toxicity disinfectants & prevent/recover from biofilm induced corrosion/ fouling8. What diagnostic & treatment options/studies needed to understand crew health & biomedicine related to microbial

& contamination exposures?

9. What info needed to develop acceptable/ appropriate, ethical & operational guidelines for human missions to Mars?

ü Technol. & Operations for Mitigating/Controlling Contamination 1. Does duration of surface stay matter to PP objectives? (? = relationship bet. human exploration time/duration &

density/ spread of contamination?)

2. What level of non-viable bioburden escape is acceptable? (If non-viability verified, does this address human microbial bioburden concerns? If not-viable, does this address concerns about external dissemination of microbes?).

3. Is there a need for using decontamination & verification procedures/ protocols after releases? (nominal or otherwise). Are decontamination procedures needed both inside & outside the spacecraft?

4. What considerations should go into design of quarantine facilities & methods (for use en route to Mars, on Mars or

returning from Mars?)

5. How can contamination concerns be addressed during human missions since definitions of Special Regions may vary in space & time (e.g. over diurnal & seasonal cycles)?

6. What research is needed to address gaps in questions about ISRU, Habitation & Testing –& in advance of planning/design of technologies, systems and operations?

7. What is ‘acceptable containment’ of wastes intentionally left behind (type, location, duration)? Also, what are acceptable constraints and procedures on vented materials?

8. What microbial contaminants would vent from an EVA systems/suit? what concentrations? What are

implications for suit materials, cleaning tools, collection technology & procedures on Mars

ü Natural Transport of Contaminants1. How do interactions of biocidal factors affect microbial survival, growth & evolution in Mars-type environments;

What is potential for survivability & replication of very hardy microbes (in dust environments? across Mars? In biofilms?)

2. What data or models needed to determine what happens to windblown dust, & where it might go. Need understand meteorological conditions throughout several years at particular site(s)

3. What is probability of transporting hardy terrestrial microbes to Mars via different pathways on a human mission?

4. What will leak &/or vent from pressurized containers or human facilities? (rate, size, biological diversity, cells, organic molecules,etc during nominal operations? ) After significant degradation (of materials)? During off-nominal?

5. How to study yet-uncultivable microorganisms? (methods? tools? etc.) What proportion of entire community do they represent? How can we assess/monitor their viability?

6. Understand & establish acceptable contamination generation rates/thresholds for human landing sites—(consider

sites as point sources of contamination. Model minimum Aeolian contam. spread rates over distances, times, conditions)

7. Understand & establish acceptable contamination generation rates/thresholds for mobile-crewed systems (suited crew;pressurized vehicle); study as point sources of contamination; model minimum contamination spread (time & dist.)

8. Understand & establish acceptable contamination generation rates/thresholds for human landing sites in context

of subsurface contamination and ISRU of local water/ice

http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20160012793

Post Workshop Analysis Identified Four High Priority Knowledge Gap areas:1. Natural transport of terrestrial biological contamination on Mars 2. Status & evolution of microbiome on robotic and human flight systems 3. Synergistic biocidal effects of Mars envmt on survival & growth of spacecraft associated

microbiomes 4. Acceptable level for biological & organic contam. release from human support systems

Four actions identified to close these High Priority Knowledge Gaps: 1. Measurements on the Mars surface to acquire high frequency meteorological data over at least

a full martian year at multiple fixed locations2. Development of microbiota & microbiome monitoring capabilities and systematic measures of

the microbial diversity and evolution over time for robotic Mars spacecraft vs human spacecraft (ground based, ATLO & in flight)

3. Ground based measurements of synergistic biocidal effects on survival and growth of spacecraft associated microorganisms.

4. Measurements to characterize the release of biological & organic contamination from human support systems (e.g., EVA suits, air locks, habitat etc.).

Workshop Info:https://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/humanworkshop2016

Goals:• Determine on what missions the high priority KGs can be addressed• Identify measurements to be made• Establish sequences of measurements and of experiments• Identify what KGs are not being addressed by current mission set

ProcessReview 2016 COSPAR workshop on PP for Human Mission

Discuss – Knowledge Gaps (KG) & Prioritization Tasks: Align mission opportunities (by timeframe) with KGs by workgroups

Review & iterate for 4 time frames:Near term to 2019 2020-24 2025- 29 2030 onward

Each Work Group Fill in Excel spreadsheet detailsMicrobial and Human Health MonitoringTechnology and Operations for Contamination ControlNatural Transport of Contamination on Mars

GROUP 1- NEAR TERM Microbial & Human Health Monitoring ü Implement systematic microbial monitoring of ISS environment- inside & out to understand survival

& dispersal of microbes/ contaminants− Routine (weekly) & Systematic (all ISS modules, surfaces, air, filters)

ü Implement routine and systematic microbiome monitoring of ISS crews− Routine: pre-flight, during flight (weekly), post flight

− Systematic: (all ISS crews, pre and post flight medical exams)

GROUP 2- NEAR TERM Technology & Ops for Contamination Control Opportunities to address KGs identified in three locations:

ISS• Study during normal ops to understand bioburden production/degree of contamination; Assess

cleanliness levels, leak rates/transport; Protocols for waste/clean up; & Microbial contamination during EVA operations.

• External & internal swabbing identified as HIGH PRIORITY to assess bioburden production & spread from vents &habitat areas.

Ground & Analogue Studies • Bioburden levels/releases from Arctic & Antarctic field camp; levels inside-, outside- & far from

habitats; Studies for indications of life in ices • Lab expts. on viability of microbes under extreme conditions; Modelling to asses/compare leak

rates with ISS & Mars tech designs; Modelling/testing releases of Anthropogenic gasses; Testing with regolith & water ice for relevant data.

• Understand CDC/WHO protocols for biocontainment; consider MSR containment (break the chain)

Mars• Collect data on Mars env. conditions/partitioning; modelling/weather testing

GROUP 3- NEAR TERM Natural Transport of Contamination on Marsü Knowledge about the natural transport of terrestrial biological contamination on Mars is essential to

perform informed partitioning of the martian surface, i.e. operation zones for exploration and commercial activities

ü New measurements on Mars surface needed to acquire high frequency meteorological data over at least a full martian year at multiple fixed sites to develop, test & validate contami. transport models

Report in preparation: https://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/humanworkshop2018

OVERVIEW

CONCLUSIONS

Workshop Report

COSPAR WORKSHOP (2016)2nd COSPAR Workshop on

Refining Planetary Protection Requirements for Human Missions49 Attendees LPI, Houston TX May 2018

Representatives from COSPAR, ESA, NASA, JAXA, Academia & Industry

2nd COSPAR WORKSHOP (2018)

Stay the course –• Continue the incremental path forward as outlined in NPI 8020.7.• Address the list of cross-cutting R&TD gaps to help develop effective PP

Requirements for Human Extraterrestrial Missions, • In the long term this will enable more capable & effective science

exploration on Mars and beyond, for robotic and human explorers alike.• ? Consider Possible Mission Opportunities with Other Partners?

(e.g. Affordable Mars; IMEWG- GER; iMOST Mars plans; Commercial/Private?)

NASAWorkshopatAmes

1st COSPARWorkshopatLPI

2nd COSPARWorkshopatLPI

COSPARWorkingMeetingonContaminationTransportonMarsatLPIMay2018

COSPARWorkingMeetingonSpacecraftSystems- TBD

COSPARWorkingMeetingonMicrobialMonitoring&HealthatLPI-May2019

Identification ofPlanetaryProtectionKnowledgeGapsforHumanExtraterrestrialMissions

Refinementandprioritization ofPlanetaryProtectionKnowledgeGapsforHumanExtraterrestrialMissions

MissionOpportunityIdentification forAddressingPlanetaryProtectionKnowledgeGapsforHumanExtraterrestrialMissions

Measurements andPayloadConcepts “SDTs”forAddressingPlanetaryProtectionKnowledgeGapsforHumanExtraterrestrialMissions

2015 2016 2018 2018&beyond

WhatKnowledgeGaps…

…inwhatorder… …usingwhatmissions…

…tomakewhatmeasurements…

…tomakesurethatMarsisprotectedforfutureexplorationand thattheterrestrialbiosphereisprotectedfromadversechangesintheenvironmentresultingfromtheintroductionofextraterrestrialmatter

ü ü

NASA/COSPARConcept/ApproachforDevelopmentofPlanetaryProtectionRequirementsforHumanMissions

üü

NASA WORKSHOP (2015)

March 2015 NASA ARC CA.Co-Sponsors: NASA PPO & HEOMD100 participants

Workshop Objectives: ü Capture the State of Knowledge ü Identify Key Knowledge Gaps ü Determine R&TD NeedsOUTCOME:ü Identified 25 Knowl. Gaps & R&TD Needsü 3 FOCUS AREAS

Incremental Path Forward

Workshop Objectivesü Review Identified Gaps ü Arrange R&TD Needs in Priority Orderü Assess Where/ How R&TD can be done

(ISS, Earth, Moon, Asteroids, Mars & Mars Moons

COSPAR WORKSHOP

Refining Planetary Protection Requirements for Human Missions

35 International Participants Oct. 2016 LPI, Houston TXStepwise Path to Human PP Requirements

For more info contact: Dr. Margaret Racemrace@seti.org (925) 890-3963

Overview-COSPAR2016AllSplinterGroupFindings Priority/Criticality PossibleLocations?GROUP1:Microbial&HumanHealthMonitoring TIME MISSION Mars Moon asteroid Earth ISS

1A.MicrobialMonitoringofEnvironment H H M? M? H

1B.MicrobialMonitoringofHumans H H H H1C.MitigationofMicrobialGrowthinSpacecraftSystems H H M/H? M/H? H H?1D.OperationalGuidelinesforPPandCrewHealth L L GROUP2:Technol&OpforContaminationControl 2A.Bioburden/Transport/OpsduringShortv.LongStays M M M,M 2B.Microbial/OrganicReleasesfromhumansandsupportsystems H H H,H H2C.Protocols(Decontam/Verific/Monitor)toRemediateReleases M H M,H H2D.DesignofQuaratineFacilities/Methods-fordifferentphases L L L,L

2E.HowdoMarsenvtvaryovertimewrtgrowthofEarthmicrobes? L H L,H 2F.Res.neededtomakeISRU&PPgoalscompatible M M M,M M,M 2G.‘acceptablecontam.'ofwastesleftbehind?Constraintsonventedmatls. L L L,L FORMER2H.DELETED 2I.ApproachtoAchieve'BreaktheChain"Requirements? L L L,L

2J.GlobalDistrib/Depthofsubsurf.Ice--andevidenceofExtantlife? H H H,H 2K.EvolofPPReqmts/goalsfromrobotictoHumanMissions&zones? H M H,M H,M GROUP3:NaturalTransportofContaminationonMars Time/Mission 3A.Measurements/ModelsforMarsatm.transportofcontaminants H H X X 3B.Measurements/Modelsforsubsurf.transportofcontaminants M M M M 3C.EffectofBiocidalFactorsonsurv./growth/adaptofmicrobesonMars H H M M 3D.DetermineAcceptableContam.Rates&Thresholds H H H M H 3E.ProtectionMechanismsfororganismsonMars M M M M 3F.DegradationofLandedMaterialsbymartianenvmt M M M M 3G.InducedEnvConditionsaroundStructure? M M M M 3H.Sensitivityofnon-culturablespptobiocidalfactors M M M L M

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