Mars through the looking glass: an interdisciplinary analysis of forward and backward contamination

Goh, Gérardine Meishan; Kazeminejad, B.

doi:10.1016/j.spacepol.2004.06.008

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

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“…Beresheet's hard landing on the Moon in April 2020, while carrying a small payload of tardigrades, raised a vigorous global debate on both ethical and legal implications of a possible forward contamination event (Caplin, 2019;Shahar and Greenbaum, 2020). Although the question whether life arose on Mars is still under investigation (Cabrol, 2018), the potential of Mars-sourced biological crosscontamination via robotic, and in the future, human missions to Mars, stresses the need for a better understanding of the forward and backward contamination potential of such missions (Goh and Kazeminejad, 2004). Several in-depth interdisciplinary analyses of contamination potential were previously done in Mars analog missions, such as the AustroMars simulation, performed in the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), located in the Moab desert in Utah, United States (Grömer et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Forward and Backward Microbial Contamination in a Mars Analog Mission

Yair

Reshef

Shopen-Gochev

et al. 2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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As human exploration missions to Mars are on the horizon, microbial cross-contamination remains a key issue to address. These issues can be approached today using advances in molecular metagenomics methods, which include rapid and sensitive sequencing platforms for characterizing microbial populations. Combined with analog missions, these methods provide powerful tools for assessing the challenges associated with planetary exploration. Here, we designed a protocol to monitor forward and backward contamination events and progression in an 11-days Mars analog mission in the Ramon crater in Israel. Forward contamination soil samples were collected daily from three sites–two sites in close proximity to the habitat and one isolated site. Backward contamination was determined in samples from nitrile gloves of six analog astronauts before and after extravehicular activities Temperature, relative humidity and soil composition data were also collected for all sites. Environmental DNA samples were extracted in the main habitat and 16S (bacterial) and 18S (eukaryotic, fungal) rRNA gene amplicons were sequenced and analyzed to study microbial population diversity and composition. Shannon Diversity index analysis and Principal Coordinates analysis (PCoA) of rRNA genes indicated that differences in the diversity and population composition were significant in sites closer to the habitat when compared to a reference site. These samples also demonstrated the introduction of human-associated taxa to the environment. Backward contamination consisted of bacterial taxa found on gloves upon return from EVA and also detected in soil, altogether 44 genera, indicating backward contamination events. To our knowledge, this is the first protocol to utilize advanced molecular technologies to investigate forward and backward contamination in a Mars analog mission.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Forward and Backward Microbial Contamination in a Mars Analog Mission

Yair

Reshef

Shopen-Gochev

et al. 2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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The Axiological Dimension of Planetary Protection

Persson

2021

Astrobiology

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Planetary protection is not just a matter of science. It is also a matter of value. This is so independently of whether we only include the protection of science or if we also include other goals. Excluding other values than the protection of science is thus a value statement, not a scientific statement and it does not make planetary protection value neutral. It just makes the axiological basis (that is, the value basis) for planetary protection more limited in a way that is inconsistent with the axiological grounds for back contamination, ethically questionable and strategically unwise. However we look at it, we cannot get away from the conclusion that the axiological dimension of planetary protection is a task that needs to involve experts on value theory as well as experts from a range of different sciences and also include opinions from outside the academic community.

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Planetary Protection Issues of Private Endeavors in Research, Exploration, and Human Access to Space: An Environmental Economics Approach to Backward Contamination

Profitiliotis

Loizidou

2019

Space Policy

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Mars through the looking glass: an interdisciplinary analysis of forward and backward contamination

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Forward and Backward Microbial Contamination in a Mars Analog Mission

Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Forward and Backward Microbial Contamination in a Mars Analog Mission

The Axiological Dimension of Planetary Protection

Planetary Protection Issues of Private Endeavors in Research, Exploration, and Human Access to Space: An Environmental Economics Approach to Backward Contamination

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