Mars Sample Receiving Facility and sample containment: Difference between revisions
Mars Sample Receiving Facility and sample containment (edit)
Revision as of 17:47, 19 November 2019
, 4 years ago→View presented in the NRC and ESF study group reports and Planetary Protection Office summaries
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{{quotation|The risks of [[Environmental degradation|environmental disruption]] resulting from the inadvertent contamination of Earth with putative martian microbes are still considered to be low. But since the risk cannot be demonstrated to be zero, due care and caution must be exercised in handling any martian materials returned to Earth.<ref name=nrc2009_4p46>
{{cite report |title=Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions |publisher=National Research Council |year=2009|url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12576&page=46}}</ref>}}
To deal with these issues, the [[NASA]] Office of Planetary Protection<ref>[http://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/about NASA Office of Planetary Protection]</ref> recommends construction of a special a Mars Receiving Facility. They recommend that the facility should be operational at least two years prior to launch,<ref name=MSRtaskgroup>[http://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/summary/msr Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations (Planetary Protection Office Summary)] Task Group on Issues in Sample Return. National Academies Press, Washington, DC (1997)</ref> with various estimates on the time taken to build the facility and bring it to operational readiness. Preliminary studies have warned that it may take as many as 7 to 10 years to get it operational.<ref>{{cite report |title=Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions |publisher=National Research Council |year=2009 |chapter=7
The official reports stress the need for public debate at the international level due to the ethical issues involved.
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