Planetary protection for a Mars sample return: Difference between revisions
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{{bq|Unless future Mars landers and/or rovers discover living organisms on Mars and gather significant information before a Mars sample is returned, knowledge about Mars biology (if any) will have a very steep development curve with an MSR: the sample will land overnight and the scientific investigations will have no or only limited preliminary steps. This differs significantly from, for example, the incremental development of synthetic biology that becomes increasingly complex, building upon past experience and experiments.}} |
{{bq|Unless future Mars landers and/or rovers discover living organisms on Mars and gather significant information before a Mars sample is returned, knowledge about Mars biology (if any) will have a very steep development curve with an MSR: the sample will land overnight and the scientific investigations will have no or only limited preliminary steps. This differs significantly from, for example, the incremental development of synthetic biology that becomes increasingly complex, building upon past experience and experiments.}} |
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Other risks mentioned in these studies, and by the Planetary Protection Office include the possibility of human error, accidents, natural disasters, security breach, actions by terrorist or 'activist' groups or crime, leading to release of the materials, once the samples are on the Earth surface.<ref name=esf2012_PP-crime-etc>{{cite report |title=A Draft Test Protocol for Detecting possible biohazards in martian samples returned to Earth|publisher=NASA |year=2002 |quote=" |
Other risks mentioned in these studies, and by the Planetary Protection Office include the possibility of human error, accidents, natural disasters, security breach, actions by terrorist or 'activist' groups or crime, leading to release of the materials, once the samples are on the Earth surface.<ref name=esf2012_PP-crime-etc>{{cite report |title=A Draft Test Protocol for Detecting possible biohazards in martian samples returned to Earth|publisher=NASA |year=2002 |quote="Questions about the adequacy of the SRF to maintain the new life form must also be addressed, including the possible need to add equipment, change operations, review emergency plans, or upgrade the facilities because of what has been found. Concerns about security should also be reconsidered, especially in view of the potential disruptive activities of any terrorist or 'radical' groups that may be opposed to sample return. (page 93) .... The breach could be the result of an accident or a crime - as a result of activity either outside or within containment (page 96)"|url=https://discovery.larc.nasa.gov/pdf_files/MSRDraftTestProtocol.pdf}}</ref> |
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==== Target probabilities for proposed biohazard facilities ==== |
==== Target probabilities for proposed biohazard facilities ==== |
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