Royal Society Publishing has recently published an OPEN ACCESS theme issue of Philosophical Transactions A: Planetary Protection for sustainable space exploration compiled and edited by Karen Olsson-Francis, Athena Coustenis, Peter Doran, Petra Rettberg, Niklas Hedman and Jean-Claude Worms and the articles are FREE to access at www.bit.ly/TransA2314

About this issue

Planetary protection has recently gained increased attention from the broader scientific community, primarily driven by the rise of new spacefaring nations and the expanding role of private and commercial entities in space exploration. In response to these evolving dynamics, the COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy is being refined to accommodate these more complex and ambitious missions. This theme issue highlights the need for a transparent approach for planetary protection, where international collaboration is actively pursued, including the sharing of best practices and fostering collaboration among stakeholders to help ensure that space exploration benefits future generations.
The issue is based on the contributions presented at the Inaugural International COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Planetary Protection Week held in London on April 2024 and at other COSPAR Planetary Protection Meetings.

List of papers

Planetary protection for safe and sustainable space exploration
Karen Olsson-Francis et al.

The COSPAR panel on planetary protection and the COSPAR policy on planetary protection: an overview of governance and activities
Niklas Hedman et al.

Testing the hypothesis, ‘planetary protection is expensive’ from the ESA perspective
Silvio Sinibaldi & Albert Haldemann

Proposed updates to the COSPAR planetary protection policy for missions to icy worlds
Peter Doran et al.

Habitability and exchange processes on the Jovian moons: implications for planetary protection measures
Gabriel Tobie et al.

Survival limits of psychrotolerant microorganisms with relevance for planetary protection of the icy moons
Tommaso Zaccaria, Kristina Beblo-Vranesevic, Marien I de Jonge, Mihai G Netea & Petra Rettberg

Planetary protection considerations for Dragonfly at Titan
Ralph D Lorenz, Shannon MacKenzie, Mihaela Ballarotto, Kenneth Hibbard & Elizabeth P Turtle

Isolator/glovebox technical challenges for the curation of samples returned from Mars
John MC Holt et al.

An ensemble binning approach to identify functional diversity in cleanroom environments
Michael C Macey, Alexander Mahnert, Ben P Stephens, Ezgi Kucukkilic-Stephens & Karen Olsson-Francis

Co-enrichment of Ce and organics in microbe-like structures at the deep-sea ferromanganese crust surface
Ayaka Tokumaru et al.