Documents and Templates

Here are links to publically available documents related to planetary protection, astrobiology, and solar system exploration that you can read online or download and peruse at your leisure. Most documents are presented in HTML format which you can read online; others are in AcrobatÆ PDF format as noted (you will need the free Acrobat).

Please also see document summaries of selected reports.


NASA Technical Documents, and Reports

(please note that if the direct link to a NPR or NPD is no longer active, you may be able to search for the document at the NODIS Library)

• NASA Online Directives Information System, NODIS Library

• NPR 8020.12D: Planetary Protection Provisions for Robotic Extraterrestrial Missions

• NPD 8020.7G: Biological Contamination Control for Outbound and Inbound Planetary Spacecraft

• Handbook for the Microbial Examination of Space Hardware (NASA-HDBK-6022, 8.17.2010)

• A Draft Test Protocol for Detecting Possible Biohazards in Martian Samples Returned to Earth (NASA/CPó2002-211842, October 2002) (PDF)

• NPD 7100.10E: Curation of Extraterrestrial Materials
  
  

NASA Documents and Books related to Planetary Protection

• When Biospheres Collide: A History of NASA’s Planetary Protection Programs, Sept. 14 2011, Michael Meltzer

• The Planetary Quarantine Program: Origins and Achievements, 1956-1973

• Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration, 1957-present

• Lunar Exploration Timeline, 1959-1976

• On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet, 1958-1978

• Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions

• 25 Years of Curating Moon Rocks
  
  

Committee on Space Research of the International Council for Science

• COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy

Reports of the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council

Reports Relevant to Planetary Protection and Astrobiology

• Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars

• Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Venus Missions ñ Letter Report

• Life in the Universe: an Examination of United States and International Programs in Astrobiology

• The Quarantine and Certification of Martian Samples

• Signs of Life: A Report Based on the April 2000 Workshop on Life Detection Techniques

• Preventing the Forward Contamination of Europa

• Evaluating the Biological Potential in Samples Returned From Planetary Satellites and Small Solar System Bodies

• Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations

• Biological Contamination of Mars: Issues and Recommendations

• The Search for Life’s Origins: Progress and Future Directions in Planetary Biology and Chemical Evolution
  
  

Reports Relevant to Solar System Exploration

• Review of Goals and Plans for NASA’s Space and Earth Sciences

• New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy

• Assessment of Mars Science and Mission Priorities

• A Science Strategy for the Exploration of Europa

• A Scientific Rationale for Mobility in Planetary Environments

• Assessment of NASA’s Mars Architecture 2007 – 2016

• On NASA Mars Sample-Return Mission Options

• Review of NASA’s Planned Mars Program

• An Integrated Strategy for the Planetary Sciences: 1995-2010

• International Cooperation for Mars Exploration and Sample Return

• 1990 Update to Strategy for Exploration of the Inner Planets

• Space Science in the Twenty-First Century: Imperatives for the Decades 1995 to 2015óPlanetary and Lunar Exploration