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Statement of Task

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will appoint the Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP) to operate as a long-term ad hoc committee. The disciplinary scope of CoPP includes the study of those aspects of planetary environments, the life sciences, spacecraft engineering and technology, and science policy relevant to the control of biological cross-contamination arising from the robotic spacecraft missions and the human exploration and utilization of solar system bodies.

CoPP will have two primary tasks:

1. To monitor progress in implementing the planetary protection guidelines associated with priority missions and programs identified in the planetary science decadal survey—Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013–2022—and in successor planetary science decadal surveys, and other relevant reports issued by the National Academies; and
2. To serve as a source of information and advice on those measures undertaken by robotic spacecraft and human exploration missions to protect the biological and environmental integrity of extraterrestrial bodies for future scientific studies and the means to preserve the integrity of Earth’s biosphere when spacecraft return potentially hazardous extraterrestrial materials to Earth.

The committee will carry out its charge at its in-person and virtual meetings by gathering evidence from experts, deliberating, and, when necessary, by preparing short assessment reports detailing progress in areas relating to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) planetary protection guidelines or new scientific and technical developments. Such reports may include findings and discussion of key activities undertaken by NASA as well as the status of its actions that relate to the state of implementation of priority missions and programs.

For other advisory activities that require a more in-depth review than is possible through the normal operation of the CoPP, the Space Studies Board (SSB), the Board on Life Sciences, the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, and NASA will negotiate a task for a separate ad hoc committee, taking advantage, as appropriate, of the expertise in the CoPP.

Through its regular meetings, the CoPP will also serve the secondary functions of:

1. Providing an independent, authoritative forum for the scientific community, the federal government, international space agencies, relevant private-sector entities and organizations, and the interested public to identify and discuss emerging issues in the scientific, technical, and engineering aspects of planetary protection policies and guidelines;
2. Identifying and prioritizing necessary research and development activities required to advance the development of planetary protection guidelines designed to ensure that the exploration and utilization of extraterrestrial environments is conducted responsibly; and
3. Providing a forum for interactions with the International Science Council’s Committee on Space Research and other national and international organizations through the addition of international participants when appropriate and in coordination with the SSB.

The CoPP of the SSB shall conduct a study on planetary protection categorization of outbound-only missions to small bodies that addresses the following topics. In what follows, an “identifiable population” of solar system small bodies refers to a subset of solar system small bodies defined by ranges of measurable known parameters, such as (a) orbital elements, (b) spectroscopic classification, (c) activity, (d) composition, and/or (e) size. Objects yet to be discovered, whose properties fall into the defining ranges, are to be considered members of the corresponding identifiable population.

1. Are there identifiable populations of solar system small bodies that are sufficiently numerous, of sufficiently similar accessibility, and/or of sufficiently low relevance to the study of chemical evolution related to the search for extraterrestrial life that the contamination of one object in the population would reasonably be expected to have no tangible effect on the potential for scientific investigation using other objects in the population? If so, provide a list of these identifiable populations and their defining parameters;
2. For the populations identified in #1, is it appropriate to categorize all missions to objects in these as planetary protection Category I?
3. If, after the publication of the study, new information indicates that a previously defined identifiable population is sufficiently inhomogeneous with regard to planetary protection to warrant reassessment, what protocols should be followed in order to revise the defining parameter ranges and corresponding planetary protection categorizations?

The implications of the report findings will be consistent with the budget limitations provided by NASA at the time of study initiation. The study will gather input from stakeholders, including the planetary and astrobiology science communities, government agencies dealing with spaceflight and exploration, and the aerospace industry, including emerging commercial entities.