When Bispheres Collide: A History of NASA's Planetary Protection Programs (ePub eBook)

Cassie Conley, NASA Planetary Protection Officer in the Foreward to this NASA publication notes, "When Biospheres Collide provides an excellent grounding in the history and fundamentals of planetary protection, as well as an overview of recent and ongoing activities within NASA’s programs. The public can be proud of the way that NASA has responded to planetary protection concerns, with its efforts to act responsibly, communicate openly, and address effectively the potential for contamination. Those who do not learn from history may be doomed to repeat it, but it is to be hoped that NASA’s future activities in planetary protection will demonstrate that those who do learn from history may also repeat at least some of the past’s successful efforts."

List of Figures vii

List of Tables xi

Preface xiii Foreword xv

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter 1: Why We Must Protect Planetary Environments 1

Chapter 2: In the Beginning: The Need for Planetary Protection Is Recognized 15

Chapter 3: Developing Effective Planetary Protection Approaches 77

Chapter 4: Back Contamination: The Apollo Approach 113

Chapter 5: Planetary Protection for Mars: The Viking Experience 247

Chapter 6: Small Bodies of the Solar System 301

Chapter 7: Return to Mars 359

Chapter 8: Do We Have the Right To Contaminate? The Ethical and Legal Aspects of Planetary Protection 433

Chapter 9: Conclusion 457

Anyone with an interest in the activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, the study of, or inforamtion about, space exploration will find this resource of interest and information.