Mars sample return campaign: biological risk and a proposed sample safety assessment protocol
Year: 2026
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Returning surface samples from Mars to Earth has been a major planetary science objective, with the potential for the detection of microbiological life and the possibility of improving our understanding of the origins of life. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency assembled a team to assess the level of risk that returned samples could contain potential biohazards. The team was chartered with optimizing previous sample safety assessment strategies, defining what constitutes a biological hazard, developing a protocol to test for biohazards, and establishing a statistical framework to determine if samples may be safe for release from a high-containment facility. This report presents the biological context for a proposed three-step protocol for testing returned samples, including how to determine if microorganisms are present, and if they could be (or were recently) alive.
DOI: 10.1128/aem.02461-25
Authors: G. McDonnell, B. L. Teece, R. Mackelprang, N. Cressie, J. R. McQuiston, L. E. Mayhew, A. Steele, S. Siljeström, B. M. Ahern, N. Baird, R. E. Davis, K. L. French, M. Glamoclija, H. Graham, K. B. Hummel, W. Page, N. Pearce, A. Regberg, D. Relman, M. A. Sephton, B. Sherwood Lollar, J. Vanhomwegen, M. B. Wilhelm, B. Shirey, D. W. Beaty
Institutions: Johnson & Johnson (United States), Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cornell University, California State University System, University of Wollongong, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Carnegie Institution for Science, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, United States Department of Defense, Texas State University, Johnson Space Center, United States Geological Survey, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Goddard Space Flight Center, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Stanford University, Imperial College London, University of Toronto, Institut Pasteur, Ames Research Center
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funders: U.S. Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, California Institute of Technology, European Space Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Geological Survey, Ames Research Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center
OpenAlex ID: W7162526022