Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: NASA/MEPAG

Planetary protection requirements should address pollution by shot-from-Earth chemicals and materials.

That’s from a new opinion piece appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thus far, “there has been little research on the impacts of anthropogenic chemicals and materials in the context of Planetary Protection, nor has there been an effort to compose regulations or agreements that consider these impacts. This needs to change,” the opinion piece argues, with lead pen held by John Hader of the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University in Sweden.

Anthropogenic debris from various robotic rover missions on Mars. Toss in plausible emission routes of chemicals and materials from a crewed Martian base. Shown here are: (A) leftovers of the Perseverance rover’s backshell and parachute in Jezero Crater (2022); (B) smoke plume rising from the crash site of the “Skycrane” used to lower the Perseverance rover onto the Martian surface (2021); (C) string-like material from the Perseverance rover’s landing system (2022); (D) debris from the Curiosity rover (potentially associated with its landing; 2012); (E) heatshield from the Opportunity rover (2004); (F) Some emissions pathways. Image credits: NASA/JPL–Caltech (A–C); NASA/JPL–Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems (D); NASA/JPL–Caltech/Cornell University (E); and NASA (F).
Image credits: NASA/JPL–Caltech (A–C); NASA/JPL–Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems (D); NASA/JPL–Caltech/Cornell University (E); and NASA (F).

Uncontrolled manner

The researchers note that at this moment there is evidence on Mars “that humanity’s robotic explorers of the past decades have contaminated the environment with chemicals and engineered materials in an uncontrolled manner.”

They call on the astrobiology, planetary protection sages, and environmental chemistry communities to come together to examine how anthropogenic pollution, via chemicals and materials associated with human exploration, may behave in the environments of celestial bodies.

Pollution prevention

“Humanity is reaching farther into the solar system,” the opinion piece explains. “If we are to explore our celestial environment in a sustainable and ethical way, we must understand the potential impacts of chemical and material pollution on other planets before such pollution occurs.”

It is therefore vital, they write, “that we learn more about pollution prevention on other worlds and that we incorporate that knowledge into existing planetary protection guidelines.”

To view the PNAS opinion piece – “Planetary Protection requirements should address pollution from chemicals and materials” – go to:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310792120