Harvesting the Moon, Safely
September 12, 2020
NASA says it wants private companies to collect rocks and dirt on the moon, then sell them to the agency to help in developing “norms of behavior” for future space mining and astronaut bases on Mars. But not to be overlooked in the technological excitement is the need to keep both Earth and other celestial bodies safe from microbial contamination carried in either direction by humans or their equipment, an analyst recently pointed out in an Issues online exclusive, offering a set of principles for improving the nation’s current approach to planetary protection.