Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Current status and future perspectives in planetary protection

Space exploration carries with it risks of biological contamination. Here, the planetary protection efforts currently in place to control microbial contamination during space exploration are discussed, including plans related to sample and crew returns to Earth from other Solar System destinations such as Mars.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Phillips, C. R. The Planetary Quarantine Program: Origins and Achievements, 1956–1973 (NASA, 1974).

  2. Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (United Nations, 1967); https://go.nature.com/3nmltoe

  3. Policy on Planetary Protection (COSPAR, 2021); https://go.nature.com/3fj9kvS

  4. COSPAR Information Bulletin No. 50: Decision No. 16 (COSPAR, 1969).

  5. DeVincenzi, D. L., Stabekis, P. D. & Barengoltz, J. B. Adv. Space Res. 3, 13–21 (1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. NASA Standard Procedures for the Microbial Examination of Space Hardware (NASA, 1980).

  7. Muirhead, B. K., Nicholas, A. K., Umland, J., Sutherland, O. & Vijendran, S. Acta Astronaut. 176, 131–138 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Haltigin, T. et al. Astrobiology 18, S1–S131 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Be, N. A. et al. Microbiome 5, 81 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Voorhies, A. A. et al. Sci. Rep. 9, 9911 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Race, M. et al. Final Report: 2nd COSPAR Workshop on Refining Planetary Protection Requirements for Human Missions (COSPAR, 2018).

  12. Meltzer, M. When Biospheres Collide (NASA, 2012).

  13. Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection—Evaluation of Bioburden Requirements for Mars Missions (National Academies Press, 2021).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Andy Spry.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Spry, J.A. Current status and future perspectives in planetary protection. Nat Microbiol 7, 475–477 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01060-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01060-9

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Microbiology

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Microbiology