Development of a Planetary Protection Laboratory for Mars Missions

Abstract

At Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), several types of Mars missions have been lately proposed and studied. In order to improve the feasibility of the Mars missions, it is crucial to develop a planetary protection (PP) facility so that we prevent the celestial body from biological contamination. The PP requirements need to be specified for each planetary mission in accordance with the mission objective. Since the COSPAR PP policy categorizes Mars landing missions into Category 4, a PP facility for Category 4 has been studied and planned at JAXA. In addition, a pilot model of a bioburden sample laboratory has been developed, and essential procedures, such as bioburden assay and dry heat sterilization, have been studied in this work.