Mars sample return campaign: biological risk and a proposed sample safety assessment protocol
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.
Authors
- M. Glamoclija
- N. Cressie
- B. Shirey
- S. Siljeström
- B. Sherwood-Lollar
- J. R. McQuiston
- R. Mackelprang
- M. A. Sephton
- D. W. Beaty
- J. Vanhomwegen
- G. McDonnell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0759-3518)
- N. Baird
- L. E. Mayhew
- N. Pearce
- B. L. Teece
- A. Steele
- R. E. Davis
- W. Page
- H. Graham
- K. L. French
- D. Relman
- A. Regberg
- B. M. Ahern
- M. B. Wilhelm
- K. B. Hummel
Institutions
- California State University System (US)
- Ames Research Center (US)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- Institut Pasteur (FR)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- University of Wollongong (AU)
- Cornell University (US)
- RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (SE)
- Imperial Valley College (US)
- University of Colorado System (US)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Rutgers Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (NL)
- Johnson & Johnson (Israel) (IL)
- Johnson Space Center (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Published
- 2026-05-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02461-25
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
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