WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW, AND WHEN CAN WE KNOW IT? PLANETARY PROTECTION PRECURSORS (LUNAR AND ELSEWHERE) TO HUMAN MARS EXPLORATION

摘要

NASA has embarked on a long-range plan for the eventual exploration of Mars, using the Moon as an interim destination for humans while allowing for an orderly combination of robotic science and technology missions to both bodies. In addition to the International Space Station, other microgravity missions may be employed to address critical issues regarding humans and their supporting organisms. Similarly, ESA is envisioning its Aurora program which encompasses similar destinations and goals, and which could be an important complement to any efforts made by NASA, much as Mars Express has already provided complementary observations while orbiting overhead the sites being explored by the Mars Exploration Rovers. If humans are ever to freely explore the surface and deep subsurface of Mars there will be a need to better understand the potential for human-associated biological contamination of Mars, or the very subjects that humans are there to study may be obscured or destroyed. Additionally, the potential for backward contamination must be addressed within the scope of the robotic precursor program that proceeds human Mars missions. Many of the concerns about human-associated contamination can be addressed within the scope of human missions to the Moon, and the development of systems that may have dual use on both worlds. Accordingly, planetary protection considerations and some critical experiments should be part of any lunar science plan, a number of elements of robotic and biological free-flyer missions, and will continue to be important components of robotic missions to Mars. A roadmap will be presented illustrating key questions to be posed, and the nature and timing of the answers to be gained.