National Academies Press: OpenBook

Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations (1997)

Chapter: FRONT MATTER

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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MARS SAMPLE RETURN

ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Task Group on Issues in Sample Return

Space Studies Board

Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1997

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the task group responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is interim president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and interim vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Support for this project was provided by Contract NASW 4627 and Contract NASW 96013 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

International Standard Book Number 0-309-05733-7

Cover: This Viking Orbiter image, 200 kilometers across, shows water-worn, branching valley networks in the cratered uplands of Mars. These valleys are the main evidence for a warm wet climate on early Mars. (Photograph courtesy of NASA.)

Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Copies of this report are available from

Space Studies Board

National Research Council

2101 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20418

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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TASK GROUP ON ISSUES IN SAMPLE RETURN

KENNETH H. NEALSON,

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,

Chair

MICHAEL H. CARR,

U.S. Geological Survey

BENTON C. CLARK,

Lockheed Martin Astronautics

RUSSELL F. DOOLITTLE,

University of California, San Diego

BRUCE M. JAKOSKY,

University of Colorado

EDWARD L. KORWEK,

Law Offices of Hogan & Hartson, L.L.P.

NORMAN R. PACE,

University of California, Berkeley

JEANNE S. POINDEXTER,

Barnard College/Columbia University

MARGARET S. RACE,

SETI Institute

ANNA-LOUISE REYSENBACH,

Rutgers University

J. WILLIAM SCHOPF,

University of California, Los Angeles

TODD O. STEVENS,

Pacific Northwest Laboratory


PETER W. ROONEY, Study Director

BARBARA L. JONES, Administrative Associate

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
×

SPACE STUDIES BOARD

CLAUDE R. CANIZARES,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Chair

MARK R. ABBOTT,

Oregon State University

JOHN A. ARMSTRONG,*

IBM Corporation (retired)

JAMES P. BAGIAN,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

DANIEL N. BAKER,

University of Colorado

LAWRENCE BOGORAD,

Harvard University

DONALD E. BROWNLEE,

University of Washington

JOHN J. DONEGAN,

John Donegan Associates, Inc.

GERARD W. ELVERUM, JR.,

TRW

ANTHONY W. ENGLAND,

University of Michigan

DANIEL J. FINK,*

D.J. Fink and Associates, Inc.

MARTIN E. GLICKSMAN,

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

RONALD GREELEY,

Arizona State University

BILL GREEN, former member,

U.S. House of Representatives

NOEL W. HINNERS,*

Lockheed Martin Astronautics

ANDREW H. KNOLL,

Harvard University

JANET G. LUHMANN,

University of California, Berkeley

JOHN H. McELROY,*

University of Texas, Arlington

ROBERTA BALSTAD MILLER,

CIESIN

BERRIEN MOORE III,

University of New Hampshire

KENNETH H. NEALSON,

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

MARY JANE OSBORN,

University of Connecticut Health Center

SIMON OSTRACH,

Case Western Reserve University

MORTON B. PANISH,

AT&T Bell Laboratories (retired)

CARLÉ M. PIETERS,

Brown University

MARCIA J. RIEKE,

University of Arizona

JOHN A. SIMPSON,

Enrico Fermi Institute

ROBERT E. WILLIAMS,

Space Telescope Science Institute


MARC S. ALLEN, Director

*  

Former member

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS

ROBERT J. HERMANN,

United Technologies Corporation,

Co-chair

W. CARL LINEBERGER,

University of Colorado,

Co-chair

PETER M. BANKS,

Environmental Research Institute of Michigan

LAWRENCE D. BROWN,

University of Pennsylvania

RONALD G. DOUGLAS,

Texas A&M University

JOHN E. ESTES,

University of California, Santa Barbara

L. LOUIS HEGEDUS,

Elf Atochem North America, Inc.

JOHN E. HOPCROFT,

Cornell University

RHONDA J. HUGHES,

Bryn Mawr College

SHIRLEY A. JACKSON,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

KENNETH H. KELLER,

University of Minnesota

KENNETH I. KELLERMANN,

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

MARGARET G. KIVELSON,

University of California, Los Angeles

DANIEL KLEPPNER,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

JOHN KREICK,

Sanders, a Lockheed Martin Company

MARSHA I. LESTER,

University of Pennsylvania

THOMAS A. PRINCE,

California Institute of Technology

NICHOLAS P. SAMIOS,

Brookhaven National Laboratory

L.E. SCRIVEN,

University of Minnesota

SHMUEL WINOGRAD,

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

CHARLES A. ZRAKET,

MITRE Corporation (retired)


NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
×

Preface

There has long been great interest in returning samples from solar system bodies, especially Mars. The level of scientific and public interest increased measurably during the summer of 1996 with the announcement that a naturally conveyed sample, namely, a martian meteorite found on Earth, contained circumstantial evidence of possible prior life on Mars. Studies of the meteorite also support inferences from observations of surface features that Mars once had liquid water. Since terrestrial investigations of extreme environments now indicate that primitive life appears wherever liquid water and energy are present, the meteorite results reinforce the hypothesis that life emerged on Mars, whether or not the meteorite is shown to contain direct evidence of past life there.

The present report, by the Task Group on Issues in Sample Return, addresses the question of how to ensure that any sample returned to Earth from elsewhere in the solar system has no adverse effects on our own biosphere. It complements an earlier Space Studies Board document that examined the related issue of how to keep the solar system bodies themselves clean of possible biological contamination by terrestrial spacecraft (Biological Contamination of Mars: Issues and Recommendations, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1992), and which provided the basis for a modification of the planetary protection requirements for Mars lander missions.

Two NASA spacecraft are now on their way to Mars, beginning a new program to survey the planet and assess promising locations for sample collection. It seems likely that a sample return mission will be launched to Mars within a decade. Planning for such a mission should include consideration of the recommendations presented here.

Claude R. Canizares, Chair

Space Studies Board

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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1997. Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/5563.
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The Space Studies Board of the National Research Council (NRC) serves as the primary adviser to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary protection policy, the purpose of which is to preserve conditions for future biological and organic exploration of planets and other solar system objects and to protect Earth and its biosphere from potential extraterrestrial sources of contamination. In October 1995 the NRC received a letter from NASA requesting that the Space Studies Board examine and provide advice on planetary protection issues related to possible sample-return missions to near-Earth solar system bodies.

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