[Astrobiology (Journal) via PubMed] Humanity’s self-awareness drives the quest to understand the origins of life. Although Earth history has erased much of our planet’s early biological evidence, Mars preserves ancient […]
Planetary Protection & Biosafety
Posted inPolicy
Possible News From The Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences Meeting
Editor’s note: The National Academy’s Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences Autumn 2026 Meeting is being held 6-8 October Tuesday – Thursday this week. According to the agenda there are […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
NASA Planetary Protection Handbook
[NASA] This handbook provides guidance to mission providers and Planetary Protection (PP) practitioners on implementing PP measures for both robotic and crewed space missions. This handbook represents major updates to […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
COSPAR Panel On Planetary Protection Endorses Proposed Update To The Mars Planetary Protection Policy
Source: LinkedIn [COSPAR]. Yesterday, 29 September, the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection (PPP) at its Executive meeting endorsed a proposed update to the Mars planetary protection policy, following a year-long […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
Planetary Protection Directive From NASA Administrator Isaacman
NASA Team – NASA aims to expand science across every world we visit, and human exploration of Mars in particular offers an enormous opportunity in the near future. Accordingly, our […]
Posted inMoon
South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return And eXploration (SPARX) Science Definition Team Report
[astro-ph.IM] Sample return from South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA) on the Moon has been recognized as the highest priority lunar science mission for well over two decades, appearing as a recommended […]
Posted inComets and Asteroids
Mystery Surrounding The Formation Of Asteroid Bennu Solved
[ETH Zurich] The asteroid Bennu orbits the Sun once every 1.2 years and approaches Earth every six years, passing within around 300,000 kilometres. NASA took advantage of this to collect […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
A Framework for Evaluating Forward Contamination Risk for Bio-ISRU Microorganisms
[astro-ph.IM]. NASA planetary protection policy seeks to avoid inadvertent forward contamination of celestial bodies and backward contamination of Earth during space exploration.
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine
Atmospheric Microbial Transport to Antarctica and Its Ecological Implications: A Systematic Review
[Environmental Microbiology] Atmospheric transport is hypothesized to be the primary vector connecting isolated Antarctic terrestrial habitats to global microbial pools, yet the mechanisms governing this connectivity still have important gaps.
![Low-angle backscatter electron (LABE) imaging (Supplement 9) of sample OREX-220001-1 consisting of particles obtained from inside the SRC but exterior to the sample canister — including fragments of Bennu, SRC char, and metal. FG, fine-grained. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/OSIRIS-REx.png?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Posted inSample Return
OSIRIS-REx Returned a Pristine Sample of Asteroid Bennu: Takeaways from the Mission’s Contamination Control and Knowledge Program
[astro-ph.EP] NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission had the objective of delivering a pristine sample from asteroid (101955) Bennu to Earth for scientific analysis–where “pristine” signifies the absence of foreign materials that could […]