Mars Sample Return campaign makes use of an armada of hardware to collect Martian soil, rock, and atmospheric specimens for return to Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Now underway is a ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. More than 50 years after Neil Armstrong first walked on the Moon, space exploration has become almost commonplace. The record for ...

As the search for life elsewhere in our solar system intensifies, so does the need to keep space exploration safe and sustainable. Reading time 4 minutes Planetary protection is, more than ever, a ...

With an increasing number of space missions targeting various celestial bodies, including Mars, Europa, and the Moon, the importance of maintaining the integrity of these environments while protecting ...

Formulating policies for planetary protection issues and keeping them up-to-date is the responsibility of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) panel on planetary protection. In an article in ...

In accordance with international treaty obligations, NASA maintains a planetary protection policy to avoid biological contamination of other worlds, as well as to avoid the potential for harmful ...