by NASA is going to offer to respond to that tough report issued by the Independent Review Board of Mars Sample Returns last September, including the gradual implementation of the next steps for the program.
Monday (April 15), NASA some of the agency’s recommendations for a path forward for the expensive Mars Sample Return initiative, but within a balanced overall science program. Indeed, such an enterprise has been a major goal for international planetary exploration for the past two decades.
There has been controversy in some quarters about trying to bring samples back to Earth from Mars because the potential threat of ecologically hungry Martian microbes to our biosphere remains a concern.
Related: NASA’s Mars sample return plan is undergoing a major overhaul: ‘The bottom line is $11 billion too expensive
Space bugs
The Houston Chronicle published an opinion piece on April 11 titled “Is the United States ready for extraterrestrials? Not if they’re microbes. How to protect Earth from space bugs.”
Under the rubric of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, former Democratic Congresswoman Donna Shalala and Susan Brooks, former United States Attorney and Republican Congressman. They serve together on the Bipartisan Biodefense Commission.
Donna Shalala was Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton Administration. Brooks served parts of Indiana.
Established in 2014, the Bipartisan Biodefense Commission is a privately funded entity established to assess the status of US biodefense efforts and issues recommendations to produce meaningful change.
Unexpected dangers
“Space exploration provides some of the greatest challenges and opportunities of our time. But as we venture further into the unknown, we must also expose ourselves to new and unexpected dangers,” wrote Shalala and Brooks in op-ed.
While many debate the possibility of advanced, intelligent life elsewhere, few consider the likelihood of unintelligible alien microorganisms. These life forms could exist on other planets or moons, hitchhike on spacecraft, or move through the universe in the asteroids they argue.
They could also be microbes from Earth that help or evolve in response to the stress of spaceflight, becoming more virulent, resistant or invasive. Public health, safety and security of people, animals and plants operating in them would be at serious risk space or living on Earth,” they said.
Labeling it as “Astrobiodefense” is an expression anchored in the defense of biological threats in space and on Earth arising from space exploration.
Not hypothetical or fictional
There are two goals, according to Shalala and Brooks: to prevent the contamination of extraterrestrial environments with Earth organisms; and to prevent extraterrestrial microbes or mutations from harming Earth’s inhabitants.
“As wonderful as it may sound, astrobiodefense is neither hypothetical nor fictional,” they note, calling for urgent attention and action.
“In the case of the United States, NASA has already initiated programs to prevent forward and backward contamination, ensure the health and safety of astronauts, and identify and control biological hazards. The FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] It is also responsible for monitoring commercial spaceflight payloads and how they may affect public health.”
But now, they write, in light of more missions into space, the potential dangers are increasing.
Required: coordination and cooperation
“Recent missions, for example, have brought back specimens from asteroid Bennu and his aim was to release human remains the moon. We need to do more soon,” they say.
Shalala and Brooks say the US needs to invest in research and development of new technologies and medical countermeasures to detect, diagnose, treat and prevent diseases in space and on Earth.
In addition, we need to improve our biosurveillance and symptom monitoring to effectively track and analyze space-related biological threats. time.
“We need to strengthen our coordination and cooperation between agencies and partners, nationally and internationally,” they continue, “to share information and resources without compromising the kinds of competition that drive scientific progress and gains economic consequences.”
The dangers of the unknown
Furthermore, they note that more than modest, fluctuating, wing-and-pray budgets are needed. “More policy makers and decision makers in Washington need to understand the importance and benefits of astrobiodefense in particular and the space program in general.”
Finally, Brooks and Shalala state that in our search for a promise, “we have a duty to protect ourselves and our planet from the dangers of the unknown, and to preserve and respect the integrity and diversity of life in the universe.”
By investing in and strengthening astrobiodefense, they conclude, “we can ensure that our discovery effort does not jeopardize our security and survival. Let’s get ahead of this problem, before we get into launch.”
For more information, visit the Bipartisan Biodefense Commission website or read the op-ed in its entirety.
