June 2019
The challenge of planetary protection
...credo here is responding to the needs of the user, applying due diligence and visibility in the process. Through COSPAR, the Panel on Planetary Protection aims to inform the international community of policy consensus in this area. However, it should...
June 2015
The new space ethics: COSPAR, Planetary Protection and beyond
...of course would have longer-term ramifications for those projects seeking to colonize planets such as Mars, where COSPAR guidelines are extremely onerous in terms of the level of protection required.15 Such legislation would, however lay an important...
July 2020
Pandemic in space – are we ready?
... regard to forward and backward contamination. Indeed, after decades of adherence by space agencies worldwide, in 2007 the COSPAR policy was hailed as a “reference standard for spacefaring nations in guiding compliance with Article IX of the Outer...
September 2017
Europe needs facility to handle extra-terrestrial space material
... from celestial bodies known to be devoid of any potential present or past form of life. The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) [1] defines five planetary protection categories with subcategories dependent on the target of the mission and the type...
April 2020
Reviving Russia’s space programme
... Khrunichev plant where the Proton rocket has been made. Even at institute level, the biennial meeting of COSPAR – for international space scientists - in 2014 was held in a big, new ‘Fundamental Physics’ building in Moscow. Thirdly, like...
May 2020
An ethical code for living in space
... USA) did not publish an ethical code for space but were involved in the drafting of the UN, EU and COSPAR documents. In addition, some private economic entities (e.g. space industry, space tourism companies) have published what is more...
