Submit a Revision

*your email :**
page name* : such as "Introduction", "Conclusion"..etc
<p>The concepts involved in planetary protection are not unfamiliar to anyone who has studied the history of human exploration, whether through episodes like the introduction of the rat to Hawaii by the Polynesians, the more recent spread of the zebra mussel into the North American Great Lakes by bilgewater from ships returning from Europe, or the more-widespread exchange of microbes by seagoing vessels (<em>cf.</em> ref. <a href="http://www.biology-online.org/articles/references-planetary_exploration_in_the_time_of_astrobiology_protecting_against_biological_contamination.htm#B12">12</a>). On Earth, the list of examples both forward and backward is extensive, although it is H. G. Wells (with the help of that other Welles<img alt="---" src="http://www.pnas.org/math/12pt/normal/mdash.gif">Orson) who was most successful in popularizing interplanetary considerations in the exchange of dangerous organisms. His <em>War of the Worlds</em> featured the invading Martians being killed off by Earth germs<img alt="---" src="http://www.pnas.org/math/12pt/normal/mdash.gif">the result of an encounter of the sort that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and others are pledged to avoid. </p> <p>The introduction of planetary-protection principles into spaceflight practices was done early on<img alt="---" src="http://www.pnas.org/math/12pt/normal/mdash.gif">a product of the Sputnik era. In the international arena, quarantine standards were adopted by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) in 1958<sup> </sup>(<a href="http://www.biology-online.org/articles/references-planetary_exploration_in_the_time_of_astrobiology_protecting_against_biological_contamination.htm#B13">13</a>, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/98/5/2128#B14">14</a>). With the strong urging of individuals such as Joshua Lederberg, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences made specific recommendations for the practice of planetary quarantine in their 1958-1960 studies (<em>cf.</em> ref. <a href="http://www.biology-online.org/articles/references-planetary_exploration_in_the_time_of_astrobiology_protecting_against_biological_contamination.htm#B15">15</a>). Although the successful implementation of this practice was not realized instantly (<a href="http://www.biology-online.org/articles/references-planetary_exploration_in_the_time_of_astrobiology_protecting_against_biological_contamination.htm#B16">16</a>), by the early 1970s NASA had reached a robust state of capability in both its policy and practice. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967 had incorporated an agreement that space missions to other solar-system bodies would "conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter" (<a href="http://www.biology-online.org/articles/references-planetary_exploration_in_the_time_of_astrobiology_protecting_against_biological_contamination.htm#B17">17</a>), thus affirming the earlier ICSU position. In response, NASA established a Planetary Quarantine Office, which continues now as the Planetary Protection Office and has responsibility for the overall NASA program in this area. And ICSU, through its interdisciplinary Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), continues to provide a venue for international scientific discussions of planetary-protection questions and policies. </p>
Confirmation code: Enter the code exactly as it appears. All letters are case insensitive, there is no zero.