Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection: Planetary Protection for the Study of Lunar Volatiles (2020)

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Report Series - Committee on Planetary Protection Planetary Protection for the Study of Lunar Volatiles Committee on Planetary Protection Space Studies Board Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences Board on Life Sciences Division on Earth and Life Studies A Consensus Study Report of 

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 This study is based on work supported by Contract NNH17CB02B with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any agency or organization that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-16191-6 International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-16191-6 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26029 Copies of this publication are available free of charge from Space Studies Board National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Keck Center of the National Academies 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Additional copies of this publication are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu. Copyright 2020 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection: Planetary Protection for the Study of Lunar Volatiles. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26029. 

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Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine document the evidence-based consensus on the study’s statement of task by an authoring committee of experts. Reports typically include findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on information gathered by the committee and the committee’s deliberations. Each report has been subjected to a rigorous and independent peer-review process and it represents the position of the National Academies on the statement of task. Proceedings published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or other event convened by the National Academies. The statements and opinions contained in proceedings are those of the participants and are not endorsed by other participants, the planning committee, or the National Academies. For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please visit www.nationalacademies.org/about/whatwedo. 

COMMITTEE ON PLANETARY PROTECTION JOSEPH K. ALEXANDER, Alexander Space Policy Consultants, Chair ANGEL ABBUD-MADRID, Colorado School of Mines ANTHONY COLAPRETE, NASA Ames Research Center MICHAEL J. DALY, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences DAVID P. FIDLER, Council on Foreign Relations SARAH A. GAVIT, Jet Propulsion Laboratory AMANDA R. HENDRIX, Planetary Science Institute ANDREW D. HORCHLER, Astrobotic Technology, Inc. DAVID M. KARL, NAS1, University of Hawaii at Manoa EUGENE H. LEVY, Rice University ROBERT E. LINDBERG, JR., Independent Consultant MARGARITA M. MARINOVA, Independent Consultant A. DEANNE ROGERS, Stony Brook University, The State University of New York GERHARD H. SCHWEHM, European Space Agency (retired) TRISTA J. VICK MAJORS, Michigan Technological University Staff DANIEL NAGASAWA, Program Officer, Space Studies Board, Study Director KATHERINE BOWMAN, Senior Program Officer, Board on Life Sciences MIA BROWN, Research Associate, Space Studies Board MEGAN CHAMBERLAIN, Senior Program Assistant, Space Studies Board COLLEEN HARTMAN, Director, Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board 1 Member, National Academy of Sciences. v 

SPACE STUDIES BOARD MARGARET G. KIVELSON, NAS,1 University of California, Los Angeles, Chair JAMES H. CROCKER, NAE,2 Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (Retired), Vice Chair GREGORY P. ASNER, NAS, Carnegie Institution for Science JEFF M. BINGHAM, U.S. Senate (Retired) ADAM BURROWS, NAS, Princeton University MARY LYNNE DITTMAR, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration JEFF DOZIER, University of California, Santa Barbara VICTORIA HAMILTON, Southwest Research Institute CHRYSSA KOUVELIOTOU, NAS, George Washington University DENNIS P. LETTENMAIER, NAE, University of California, Los Angeles ROSALY M. LOPES, Jet Propulsion Laboratory STEPHEN J. MACKWELL, American Institute of Physics DAVID J. MCCOMAS, Princeton University LARRY J. PAXTON, Johns Hopkins University ELIOT QUATAERT, University of California, Berkeley MARK SAUNDERS, Independent Consultant BARBARA SHERWOOD LOLLAR, University of Toronto HOWARD SINGER, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration HARLAN E. SPENCE, University of New Hampshire MARK H. THIEMENS, NAS, University of California, San Diego ERIKA B WAGNER, Blue Origin, LLC PAUL D. WOOSTER, Space Exploration Technologies EDWARD L. WRIGHT, NAS, University of California, Los Angeles Staff COLLEEN HARTMAN, Director, Space Studies Board TANJA PILZAK, Manager, Program Operations CELESTE A. NAYLOR, Information Management Associate MARGARET A. KNEMEYER, Financial Officer RADAKA LIGHTFOOT, Financial Associate 1 Member, National Academy of Sciences. 2 Member, National Academy of Engineering. vi 

BOARD ON LIFE SCIENCES BARBARA A. SCHAAL, NAS,1 Washington University in St. Louis, Chair A. ALONSO AGUIRRE, George Mason University VALERIE H. BONHAM, Ropes & Gray LLP DOMINIQUE BROSSARD, University of Wisconsin–Madison NANCY D. CONNELL, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security SEAN M. DECATUR, Kenyon College SCOTT V. EDWARDS, NAS,3 Harvard University GERALD L. EPSTEIN, National Defense University ROBERT J. FULL, University of California, Berkeley ROBERT NEWMAN, The Aspen Institute STEPHEN J. O’BRIEN, NAS,3 Nova Southeastern University LUCILA OHNO-MACHADO, NAM,2 University of California, San Diego CLAIRE POMEROY, NAM,4 Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation SUSAN RUNDELL SINGER, Rollins College DAVID R. WALT, NAE, NAM, 3 Harvard Medical School PHYLLIS M. WISE, NAM,4 University of Colorado Staff KAVITA BERGER, Director FRAN SHARPLES, Advisor JO HUSBANDS, Scholar and Senior Project Director KATHERINE BOWMAN, Senior Program Officer ANDREA HODGSON, Senior Program Officer KEEGAN SAWYER, Senior Program Officer STEVEN MOSS, Program Officer AUDREY THÉVENON, Program Officer MATTHEW ANDERSON, Financial Business Partner JESSICA DE MOUY, Senior Program Assistant KOSSANA YOUNG, Senior Program Assistant 1 Member, National Academy of Sciences. 2 Member, National Academy of Medicine. 3 Member, National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine. vii 



Preface The Space Studies Board (SSB; and its predecessor, the Space Science Board) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has been involved in shaping the United States’ planetary protection policy for 60 years. Through those years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sponsored studies through the SSB, seeking independent, scientific advice on how to craft its planetary protection policies. NASA’s policies, in turn, have formed a basis upon which the global space science community has developed consensus international planetary protection policies through the International Council of Science’s (ICSU’s) Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). In 2016, NASA asked the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science under the SSB to perform a study on the development of planetary protection policies. The resultant report, Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes, released in 2018, and a separate 2019 report of NASA’s Planetary Protection Independent Review Board.1 Both studies concluded that there was a need for NASA to “reestablish an independent and appropriate advisory body and process to help guide formulation and implementation of planetary protection adequate to serve the best interests of the public, the NASA program, and the variety of new entrants that may become active in deep space operations in the years ahead.”2 At NASA’s request, the newest discipline committee of the SSB was formed in July 2020, the Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP), to serve as the standing forum for the discussion of planetary protection issues critical to NASA. For the Committee’s first report, Science Mission Directorate and Office of Safety and Mission Assurance leadership requested that the CoPP draft a short report on the impact of human activities, both crewed and robotic, on the polar volatiles and the scientific value of protecting the surface and subsurface regions of Earth’s Moon from organic and biological contamination. Lunar exploration is a dynamic and timely subject, with activities such as the new Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and the preparations for the return of humans to the lunar surface in the Artemis program, and this was reflected in the discussions within the CoPP and from external presenters at its meetings. To gather information and discuss the issues, the CoPP met five times in 2020, virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, on the following dates: September 4, September 18, September 23, September 29, and October 2. A completed draft of this report was assembled on October 14, 2020. The committee would like to thank Penelope Boston (NASA), Athena Coustenis (Paris Observatory), Dana Hurley (Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory), Niklas Hedman (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs), Gerhard Kminek (European Space Agency), Clive Neal (University of Notre Dame), David Paige (University of California, Los Angeles), Noah Petro (NASA), Carle Pieters (Brown University), Lisa Pratt (NASA), and Parvathy Prem (Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory) for their presentations to the CoPP. We also thank Jason Dworkin (NASA) for splinter conversations and Scott Hubbard (Stanford University) and John Rummel (SETI) for informative email correspondences. 1 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2020, Assessment of the Report of NASA’s Planetary Protection Independent Review Board, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, https://doi.org/10.17226/25773. 2 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018, Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, https://doi.org/10.17226/25172, Recommendation 3.6. ix 



Acknowledgment of Reviewers This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Jeremy W. Boyce, NASA Johnson Space Center, Terry A. Hurford, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Paul G. Falkowski, NAS,1 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Paul G. Lucey, University of Hawaii, Parvathy Prem, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, and Erika B. Wagner, Blue Origin, LLC. Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Louis J. Lanzerotti, NAS,1 New Jersey Institute of Technology. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies. 1 Member, National Academy of Sciences. xi 



Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1 INTRODUCTION 3 2 STUDY OF THE HISTORY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND ITS PREBIOTIC 8 CHEMISTRY: PERMANENTLY SHADOWED REGIONS ON THE MOON 3 TRANSFER OF VOLATILES TO LUNAR POLAR COLD TRAPS BY 19 SPACECRAFT EXHAUST 4 ASSESSING REGIONS OF THE MOON THAT WARRANT PLANETARY PROTECTION 27 APPENDIXES A Statement of Task 33 B COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy 35 C NASA Organic Inventory Templates 40 D Acronyms 42 E Committee and Staff Bios 43 xiii