ESA Document - Emits - ESA

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HMM
Assessment Study
Report: CDF-20(A)
February 2004
page 320 of 422
collected and returned to Earth. If any sign of the existence of a non-terrestrial
replicating entity is found, the returned sample must remain contained unless
treated by an effective sterilizing procedure .
Sample Types- Returned to Earth
• As an indication, the total mass of sample material 100 kg, consisting of:
� Surface samples
• rocks, stones
• surface soil
o about 75%,
� Subsurface samples
• Core samples
o about 20%, for example, 40 samples.
� Atmospheric samples
o More than 5%, 50 samples at Est. 0.1 kg
• Most samples returned to be contained with environmental control
4.3.9.2 Assumptions and trade-offs
The main hazard concerns arising from the Planetary Protection requirement above are:
• Difficult-to-control pathogen(s) capable of directly infecting human hosts (extremely
unlikely).
• Life form capable of upsetting the current natural balance of Earth’s ecosystem.
This has the following implication for HMM sample retrieval and handling:
• All samples to be enclosed in hermetically sealed containers with seal verification
methods applied.
• The contact chain between the Martian environment and the Earth must be broken.
• The TV, MAV & SHM (and EVA suit) internal environments are an extension of the
Earth’s environment.
Note that all equipment that has been to the Martian surface, with the exception of the internal
habitat, must be assumed to be contaminated. This will be assumed during the following
discussions.
Sample handling constraint- an initial constraint applied to the samples and their containers is
that they will remain outside the habitable volume.
The samples are collected during astronaut EVA activities. Table 4-27 shows an overview of the
assumed method of collection and storage/transportation of the samples during EVA activities: