Measurement and Management of Planetary Surface Environmental Factors and Protocols Before and During Human Surface Missions

Science and habitation operations are inextricably linked in in-situ human exploration of a planetary surface. This linkage may be mutually enabling, but may also be disabling if the appropriate knowledge and control of... [ view full abstract ]

Science and habitation operations are inextricably linked in in-situ human exploration of a planetary surface. This linkage may be mutually enabling, but may also be disabling if the appropriate knowledge and control of naturally-occurring and “human-made” environmental effects before, during, and after these operations are not recognized or held in check. 

The response to the influence and interplay of environmental variables may be accomplished via contamination control, planetary protection protocols, habitation site design, and habitat design.  The response must be considered locally, regionally, and globally, and over a timeframe of pre-habitation through habitation and beyond.  This long-term view and risk mitigation requires long-term environmental monitoring and management.

Informed by recent and current NASA studies, International Space Station experience, and lessons learned from analog operations such as Antarctica’s McMurdo Station and NASA’s HI-SEAS activities, a variety of challenges and potential protocols for long-term environmental monitoring, management, and risk mitigation to facilitate effective and resourceful planetary surface science and human exploration will be presented.  Areas of discussion include, but are not limited to, environmental factors affecting science and habitation operations, environmental monitoring instruments, habitation site design, habitat design, and use of low-latency teleoperations.