For the first time since the Apollo program, NASA and space agencies abroad have plans to bring samples to Earth from elsewhere in the solar system. There are missions in various stages of definition to gather material over the next decade from Mars, an asteroid, comets, the satellites of Jupiter, and the interplanetary dust. Some of these targets, most especially Jupiter's satellites Europa and Ganymede, now appear to have the potential for harboring living organisms.


This book considers the possibility that life may have originated or existed on a body from which a sample might be taken and the possibility that life still exists on the body either in active form or in a form that could be reactivated. It also addresses the potential hazard to terrestrial ecosystems from extraterrestrial life if it exists in a returned sample. Released at the time of the Internationl Committee on Space Research General Assembly, the book has already established the basis for plans for small body sample retruns in the international space research community.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1 Introduction
2 Natural Influx and Cross-Contamination
3 Planetary Satellites Inside Jupiter's Orbit
4 Asteroids and Meteorites
5 Comets
6 Cosmic Dust
7 Considering the Potential Risks from Returned Samples
8 Conclusions and Recommendations
Appendix A: Biographical Sketches of Task Group Members
Appendix B: Letter of Request
Appendix C: Additional Perspectives on Contamination from Space
Appendix D: Planetary Protection Policy-NASA and COSPAR
Appendix E: Glossary