THE PHOBOS-GRUNT MISSION
TAKE YOUR CHOICE – FORWARD OR BACK CONTAMINATION?
An Open Letter to the Planetary Scientific Community
February 9, 2009
As Director of the international astroenvironmental
organization ICAMSR (International
Committee Against Mars Sample Return), I am often asked why we are
against Mars exploration? The fact is nothing could be further from the truth. ICAMSR
has been online since January of 2000 and has always promoted planetary
exploration of Mars as long as it did not violate article IX of the
United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which plainly states:
“In the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and
other celestial bodies, States Parties to the Treaty shall be guided by the
principle of co-operation and mutual assistance and shall conduct all their
activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, with
due regard to the corresponding interests of all other States Parties to the
Treaty. States Parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies of outer space,
including the Moon and other celestial bodies, and conduct exploration of them
so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the
environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial
matter and, where necessary, shall adopt appropriate measures for this purpose.
If a State Party to the Treaty has reason to believe that an activity or
experiment planned by it or its nationals in outer space, including the Moon
and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with
activities of other States Parties in the peaceful exploration and use of outer
space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, it shall undertake
appropriate international consultations before proceeding with any such
activity or experiment. A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe
that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space,
including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful
interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer
space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation
concerning the activity or experiment.”
During the time that Daniel Goldin was the NASA
Administrator there was a strong push for NASA to return Martian soil
samples on the faster-better-cheaper philosophy it adopted with the first
samples set to arrive in 2003 and 2005. This is when ICAMSR was
born as a people’s planetary protection awareness organization – to let them
know something was amiss.
Some nine years later it is generally recognized by the
scientific community, that a Mars Sample Return mission was impractical and
dangerous in 2003 and 2005 as it was originally planned. The truth is we didn’t
really know how to achieve Mars Sample Return safely without the
possibility of contaminating the Earth with potential deadly forms of Martian
microbial life. Even if Martain microbes were benign to our biosphere, we still
had to assume they wouldn’t be and needed to take the utmost precautions. After
all, we only have one Earth and we might only just get one chance at getting a Mars
Sample Return right. So we ere on the side of caution.
It has now come to my
attention that The Planetary Society along with the aid of
Germany and Russia are sending 30 small vials of terrestrial microorganisms
aboard the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission to land on the Martian
moon Phobos and then return them to the Earth.
http://planetary.org/programs/projects/life/facts.html
Phobos-Grunt is scheduled to launch in
October 2009 and also has a capsule mounted on an Earth return rocket that will
scoop up soil and rock samples of the Martian moon Phobos and return them to
the Earth in 2013. The sample return canister will not use a parachute and
impact the ground somewhere in Russia where it will be take to a laboratory for
examination.
ICAMSR was never just concerned
with the unsafe return of samples from Mars to Earth, but also how terrestrial
microorganisms riding inside improperly sterilized spacecraft going to Mars
might contaminate the red planet.
Scientists of ICAMSR
and others believe there is a strong possibility that living or viable
microorganisms might still exist on Mars. Both the evidence from the Viking
biology Labeled Release experiments of 1976 and the new seasonal methane
observations on Mars by Mumma et al in the January 15, 2009 journal Science
support this.
A number of
planetary scientists have published that several percent of Martian rock and
soil might be found on its moon Phobos, ejected there by asteroid strikes on
Mars. Still other theories suggest that Phobos is entirely Martian rock and
soil material ejected into space from Mars during an asteroid impact. Since it
is deemed increasingly likely that Mars harbors extant living microorganisms;
Phobos might also be infected with them by such material from Mars, which might
remain preserved in icy soils or within small rocks and subject to
resuscitation if brought back to Earth.
It is now commonly believed
that spacecraft carrying “hitchhiking” microorganisms could survive
interplanetary transport and is the reason planetary protection protocols were
set up by the United Nations in the first place. Phobos-Grunt
could become contaminated with such microorganisms during its stay on the moon
Phobos while gathering samples for return to Earth. No matter how remote this
possibility may be, I believe it exists to the extent that such samples should
not be returned directly to the Earth. The benefit/risk ratio of such a
potentially calamitous prospect strongly argues against this sample return
project.
Furthermore, should the Phobos-Grunt
spacecraft carrying The Planetary Society sponsored LIFE experiment
(containing terrestrial microbes) crash onto Mars by some mechanical mishap or
engineering error, the organisms might be released to contaminate the planet.
One of the terrestrial microbial samples placed inside the LIFE
experiment are methanogenic bacteria taken from the Russian Tundra.
These types of organisms are exactly the kind that might well survive and be
spread on Mars by winds and dust should the spacecraft have a mishap and crash
on Mars. What a crime to science it would be just as we are on the verge of
making the greatest scientific discovery in history (life on Mars) that we
might contaminate it with Earth life and thereafter never be able to discern
whether the life on Mars was indigenous or put there by us.
Speaking for ICAMSR,
I believe that this mission would violate the provisions of Article IX of
the Outer Space Treaty: to avoid harmful contamination of other
celestial bodies, “to avoid adverse changes to the environment of Earth
resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter”. “Harmful
contamination” as used in article IX of the Outer Space Treaty, includes being
harmful to the research programs of other parties to the treaty.” The proposed
experiment clearly violates even this restriction.
http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/space1.html#1
The proper way for such an
experiment to proceed would be to return the spacecraft with living samples and
possible Martian infection to a proper receiving facility in High Earth Orbit,
where it could be examined by a specially-trained astrobiology astronaut team
for pathogens. Then if deemed “not harmful to the Earth’s biosphere”, it could
then be brought to the sample receiving facility recommended by the National
Academy of Sciences in the hyperlink below. So far no such sample receiving
facility has been built anywhere on Earth, and
according to the report would take many years to do so.
"Recommendation: It is
imperative that planning and construction of the Mars Quarantine Facility be
begun at least 7 years in advance of the anticipated return of Mars samples.
This responsibility cannot be deferred without compromising the quarantine and
study of the Mars samples. [Chapter 6]"
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309075718
On behalf of ICAMSR,
its scientist advisors and associates, and of all living beings on Earth, I
would like you to review this situation with respect to the United Nations
Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
It is our hope that you and the planetary science
community will review this mission and others like it in the future with your
colleagues and inform them of the urgency and importance of preventing possible
forward contamination of the planet Mars such as the Russian Phobos-Grunt
mission poses and possible back contamination of the Earth.
Please share your views with the governing body for all nations
regarding planetary protection issues and forward and back contamination here:
Office
for Outer Space Affairs
United Nations Office at Vienna
Vienna International Centre,
Wagramerstrasse 5,
A-1220 Vienna
AUSTRIA
Telephone: +43-1-260 60 4950
Fax: +43-1-260 60 5830
E-mail: oosa@unvienna.org
Sincerely yours,
Barry E. DiGregorio - Director for ICAMSR
16 North Hartland Street
Middleport, New York 14105
USA
(716) 735-7096
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