When Biospheres Collide – A History of NASA’s Planetary Protection Programs by Michael Meltzer; NASA History Program Office (NASA SP-2011 – 4234), Washington, D.C.; 2011. Note: Available as NASA e-Book.
This is an absorbing look at a topic that receives little attention – but should.
First things first: What is planetary protection?
Planetary protection is the term given to the practice of protecting solar system bodies (i.e., planets, moons, comets, and asteroids) from contamination by Earth life, and protecting Earth from possible life forms that may be returned from other solar system bodies.
Planetary protection is essential for several important reasons: to preserve our ability to study other worlds as they exist in their natural states; to avoid contamination that would obscure our ability to find life elsewhere…if it exists; and to ensure that we take prudent precautions to protect Earth’s biosphere in case it does.
This book is an outstanding read, one that spotlights this issue, primarily in terms of NASA’s missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and many smaller bodies of our solar system.
Meltzer kick-starts this volume with sections on why we must protect planetary environments and early recognition of the complexities of the issue – led by such bio-thinkers as Nobel Laureates, Joshua Lederberg and Melvin Calvin, as well as British biologist, J.B.S. Haldane.
Given this planetary protection prelude, then how best to develop effective planetary protection approaches is detailed in the book.
I found particularly appealing how NASA tackled “back contamination” issues given returning moonwalkers of the Apollo era and the evolution of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory. A pressure point raised in the book is the public reaction to Michael Crichton’s best-selling novel, The Andromeda Strain – a term that still resonates with individuals today as a worrisome expression for back contamination from outer space that’s introduced into our ecosystem.
There’s a load of documentation in the book discussing humanity’s encounter with Mars – be it by the former Soviet Union, U.S., as well as Japan. Obviously, NASA’s Viking program and the sterilization effort of the ’70s that was pursued to prevent “forward contamination” is comprehensively discussed, as are post-Viking projects, including the elusive – and costly — Mars sample return initiative.
“We humans have a burning desire to increase our understanding of everything around us,” Meltzer concludes, “but we are accountable to future generations of scientists to explore our solar system without destroying the capability of others to conduct their own investigations.”
The reader will find this thoughtful book both captivating and an invaluable resource of planetary protection measures taken in the past and how to gauge progress in future years.
To take advantage of three different file formats to access this book, go to NASA e-Books at:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/when_biospheres_collide_detail.html
By Leonard David