NASA's path to planetary protection requirements for human exploration missions: Update on recent progress

NASA's Office of Planetary Protection (OPP) and Human Exploration and Operations Directorate (HEOMD) have been working collaboratively for the past several years to develop planetary protection requirements for future human missions to Mars. While implementable planetary protection requirements are in place for robotic missions, there is presently insufficient scientific and technological knowledge to establish effective quantitative requirements for the development of crewed spacecraft and missions to Mars or other habitable locations. Such requirements are needed to ensure that future human missions are in compliance with both the Outer Space Treaty and current principles and guidelines set by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). In preparation for eventual future crewed missions, in 2014 NASA released the NASA Policy Instruction on Planetary Protection Requirements for Human Extraterrestrial Missions (NPI 8020.7) which outlines a stepwise process going forward, and also identifies the need to increase knowledge in a number of areas in order to develop an appropriate set of future requirements. Three particular thematic areas of importance are: Microbial & human health monitoring; Technology and operations for contamination control; and Natural transport of contamination on Mars. This paper provides an overview of recent progress on the path towards eventual development of NASA'S planetary protection requirements (to be released in one or more NASA Procedural Requirements documents (NPRs), focusing on both science research and technology needs for human missions. Under the NPI to date, a literature survey and analysis was undertaken to gather background information and provide input to the subsequent conduct of a special Workshop on Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions, which was held at NASA Ames Research Center, March 24–26, 2015. Both the literature review and the workshop focused on the three aforementioned thematic areas related to planetary protection and implementation of future human missions to Mars. Because of the cross-cutting nature of planetary protection for future human missions, information about both the literature review and the workshop is summarized here so members of diverse technical and engineering communities may stay aware of recent updates in planetary protection information of relevance to their work, particularly in areas related to natural and technological approaches to controlling and mitigating contamination.