NRC Task Group on Planetary Protection Requirements for Venus Missions, National

“As originally written in your letter of February 7, 2005, to Space Studies Board (SSB) Chair Lennard Fisk and reiterated at the February 9-11, 2005, meeting of the SSB’s Committee on the Origin and Evolution of Life (COEL), you asked for advice on planetary protection concerns related to missions to and from Venus. In particular you asked that the National Research Council (NRC) address three issues in terms of their implications for planetary protection:

1. Assess the surface and atmospheric environments of Venus with respect to their ability to support Earth-origin microbial contamination, and recommend measures, if any, that should be taken to prevent the forward contamination of Venus by future spacecraft missions;

2. Provide recommendations related to planetary protection issues associated with the return to Earth of samples from Venus; and

3. Identify the scientific investigations that may be required to reduce uncertainty in the above assessments.”