Mars Sample Receiving Facility and sample containment: Difference between revisions
Mars Sample Receiving Facility and sample containment (edit)
Revision as of 23:07, 3 July 2020
, 3 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
The 1997 NRC report recommended that the facility should be operational at least two years prior to launch, as a result of many lapses of containment in the Apollo sample handling procedures <ref>page [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SE1qAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31 31] of Board, S.S. and National Research Council, 1997. Mars sample return: issues and recommendations. National Academies Press.</ref> Later sample return studies don't explicitly give this requirement but the rationale still applies.
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 "Sample-Receiving Facility and Program Oversight" |page=59 |url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id{{=}}12576&page{{=}}59 |quote=''It has been estimated that the planning, design, site selection, environmental reviews, approvals, construction, commissioning, and pre-testing of a proposed SRF will occur 7 to 10 years before actual operations begin.17,18,19 In addition, 5 to 6 years will likely be required for refinement and maturation of SRF-associated technologies for safely containing and handling samples to avoid contamination and to further develop and refine biohazard-test protocols. Many of the capabilities and technologies will either be entirely new or will be required to meet the unusual challenges of integration into an overall (end-to-end) Mars sample return program.''}}</ref>
The official reports stress the need for public debate at the international level due to the ethical issues involved.
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