Keynote Address Moogega Cooper
NIAC is a great mech to push our understanding and beyond…
Parents met in South Korea
Grew up in a home with divorce didn’t have a home developed in science
Didn’t understand why science classes were useful
Once I saw the cosmos, everything improved and I had a purpose for my journey
Spent the school years under Dr. James Russel III and learned how to program, analyze and validate atmospheric data and make a scientific contribution
Langley will always be the home away from home
Continued nasa journey as a postdoc at JPL
Began in the clean room with JPL and understanding the cleanliness of the spacecraft and the clean room
Began working on radar tech dev, then jumped from mission to mission
Also did some outreach work thanks to Mary voyteg
Then met Carl Sagan and he is largely the reason I am here today
Returned toMSL on Curiosity then picked upside work on plasma research to sterilize samples from mars before they are returned dot earth
This rolled into Mars 2020 and eventually lead the mission for planetary protection
Along with Europa Lander and am currently the planetary protection supervisor
History of Rover in-situ science, we are standing on the shoulder of giants
The questions today are enabled by those previous mars rovers, questions, exploration and discoveries
Bulk chemistry was a big deal with sojourner in 1997
Then spirit/opp was abrasion and bulk geochemistry
With curiosity power drilling was added
Now in mars 2020 we are able to take full core samples and see the changes with depth
Potential biomolecueles can be seen there
Prepare for humans on mars and to be able to fly a helicopter on mars
This was fortunately done successfully.
As samples are being collected, they will be deposited on the surface of mars
There is a deep post strategy there that will allow the samples for retrieval
It takes a village to make these missions successful, that is a multi agency effort
We hope the sample will be returned by the 2030s
NASA hardware that leaves … we all need to consider planetary protection
The first component is exploration of planets moons and others, we hope to avoid any earth based microbial contamination, this is the mantra of leave no trace, especially if we are searching for potential ancient life
We need to do so in a way that will protect earths own biosphere
From design through the build through test through the operations
Design something that is cleanable, and keeping it clean, for example with the use of bunny suits
Test these in huge chambers and make sure that the chambers are clean
Sample storage assembly
Tubes taht will touch the martian soil must be pristinely clean
We bake them out and take a sample, by growing the sample on swabs that we collect
We have sterile swabs and would sample the spacecraft with that
Then we archive the microbes and we have a catalogue going back to Atlas
Traditional culturing takes more than seven days to complete
Then we extract the DNA and we take a set to archive and the other part to put it through hybrid sequencing that will tell the ATCGs and what contaminants might be present
Our high throughput sequencing can shorten the process to three days
Against increasing, one example is about 8 months before launch, and the team goes from jet propulsion lab in Southern California to the cape Canaveral preparation for launch, we stack and launch
The aeroshell is actually built by Lockheed Martin
We hopped over to Denver, one thing that happened that we did not anticipate, created an anomaly on the tubes, and one of the flight tubes… about 8 months before launch and components must be installed about 3 months before launch
The issue was fixed and while managing the lab spaces across the coast, we were able to build across the US and test build and launch
With the global pandemic, it was impossible to go back home. Against increasing odds, we were able to come together beyond the pandemic and a dirty set of tubes and work past issues to really get to the launch pad
Have a common goal
Creativity in finding solutions and innovating new paths stem from teams with a. Common goal
Just remind one another that we all have a common goal and we can achieve that successs and issues that were troubleshooted and overcome, and we had to keep in mind we wanted to get to that launch pad with the highest level of integrity possible. I wanted to highlight the importance of having a diverse team, and to say I did this, and while I am the lead, I am nothing without my team, and this tema pictured has thousands of people who supported them as well.
With all those challenges, delivered most comprehensive protection implementation to date
The areas highlighted in yellow are specifically connected to planetary protection
HEPA filtered region means microbial load outside will not be able to enter
There are several things that have been done and we were able to show against all odds and increaseing odds that we were able to meet cleanliness goals with 25.4% margin
Seeing that rocket lift off was on many people’s shoulders that day
Animation of the sample collection sample was vaporized and pulverized so we were able to see an acquired sample there
Sample handling key steps
Measure volume
Seal with pictures first
See that seal is seated properly and actuated
Answer the question are we alone out there and that can preserve the blue marble, and remember that our exploration beyond earth should be done in a responsible way
Q: applications to earth?
A: we only understand within our own problem as we can only look at the framework within the earth, we can see that prions actually wreak havoc on the brain from mad cow disease, so there is information of how to treat microbial life
Q: PP considerations for Europa Clipper?
A: Clipper did not use anything new persay, the policy dictates how spacecraft treat going to icy bodies, and you need to go to a model to get that 10^-4 probability, and really tackle that to think outside of the box
Q: Commercial enterprises to conduct NASA explorations?
A: not speaking on behalf of NASA, get into the field and the discipline responsibly, how to t acquire a sample in a way that it will not contaminate the environment it was collected and to return it without contamination here
Q: is it actually worth it for NASA to do this by itself or there talks with other countries or enterprises to conduct their own rules?
A: as long as the country is sending a spacecraft that is going to space, then these rules must be followed by those individual countries
Q: are there any major challenges or hurdles that we see in the near term or the far term?
A: need to communicate effectively and interface the hardware…
Q: C2 resource utilization?
A: we reinforce the rules for planetary protection, as long as you can submit a proposal we use app at a kit to look at the amount of energy as a metric for the amount that are there, can that be improved? Yes, and if you can help us do so, please do that
Q: core samples present before storage?
A: Sherlock can look at the core shavings and look in situ at the top surface and see the geology and mineralogy that will allow us to collect that sample, we want to know what is in the core before it is acquired, initial inspections and volume inspection… we can actually do science in the borehole, that is almost immediate
Q: how to protect the environment when each asteroid only brings 10^13 microbes with them?
A: humans must not go in certain zones of mars while leaving some areas pristine
Q: what are your thoughts on cognition of mars as a whole?
A: what are the ethics of going to mars, is this an extension of colonialism? It is a really tough question to answer and in some way we have to understand our environment? We should do exploration in a way that is more ethical than the ways that are done in the past
Q: are there international standards for PP and what are enforcement actions for violations of PP?
A: lots of much more interesting details of policies and policies that exist within the USA, NASA is not a regulatory agency, so we rely on the FAA, not sure how that works internationally
Q: can we take a small tree?
A: Elon musk wanted to bring a plant to mars, many plants have been brought to the international space station, to understand how plants function and thrive in space if not on earth
Q: do planetary protection policies apply to space corporations such as space
A: yes, they do
Q: natural to bring theory of astrophysics to other ?
A: there is an idea that there could be life on a rock that may have traveled across solar systems to see where ti could go. Even where we would goto expose the hardiest of hardy and expose it to the places it would still live, and could be protected by radiation and kill life off into space.
Q: any other destinations that are of interest to you or the PP community within the solar system?
A: yes, Europa and icy worlds, where we find water there we find life, and make sure our germs are being kept to ourselves because the implications are very high
Q: Venus and the inner planets?
A: demonstrates the ability to evolve, and we are starting to learn in the upper atmosphere that life could exist in that sort of environment
Q: first thing to leave solar system was the voyager system?
A: the thing with voyager and the modeling we talked about earlier with clipper and the ing-radiation leaves so much gamma radiation and for such a long duration of time, will kill most of the microbes that we have on earth, clearly with the record that was placed, possible other intelligent …
Q: can we use plants like a cactus to detect water beneath the surface?
A: how does use of a plant change the environment or the alternative of using a robotic system
Q: what happens if a space company breaks the PP rules or protocol?
A: that is far above the pay grade, and it would be trouble to hypothesize
Q: what do you recommend for those who wish to explore space?
A: if your child doesn’t do well, don’t give up on them. Don’t stay grounded and give people all of the answers that they trust, help me to navigate some tough situations… make sure to stay grounded with someone that you trust
Q: if we do happen to rendezvous with an interstellar object, what to do ourselves?
A: depending on how long you think it has been journeying through space, it might break up, but you don’t know, handle that with caution, treat everything as a biohazard until proven otherwise
Q: any other defining moments?
A: every moment is a defining moment. There are certain situations that one could find human, being frustrated is a natural human response, how to prevent this in the future… mantra for every day and the scenario to go through
Q: in terms of interstellar exploration, stars to other probes or on their own?
A: Planetary protection officer, is the person who reaches across all of the missions not only with NASA but also with other agencies and organizations
Q: terraforming?
A: terraforming is interesting and is possible as a mechanism that can be terraformed and take care of their own planet, everything is possible but if you are using it as a reason, then it is urged to reassessed the point of view
Q: what constitutes as life? Does microbial life count? What happens if we deem a planet not to bear life but there is some life there?
A: that is the whole scientific process. Bacteria fungi multiple living and nonliving things are considered. If someone comes with additional evidence to say someone is not right, then you would write an academic journal and inquire about that. Results change and understandings change and more information so the view doesn’t support the current understanding, a really interesting position to find ourselves in of course
Q: what additional planetary thoughts are needed for fluidic planets or regions like Europa?
A: think about heat to create a fluidic environment
Q: lots of outreach, do you talk to young children?
A: yes, because elementary and middle school students will often make me take a seat. What is going to be the final answer, involving a lot more people and how to involve commercial entities to make sure they do the right thing
Q: can a clean room be designed for a spacecraft?
A: yes, in fact the spacecraft is designed in a clean room. There is a baseline component and we can see people tracking in the dirt from the California area and how it changes to the east coast and the more wet environment and micro organisms as well
Q: well there be need for a clean room in outer space such as on the moon or mars, being able to contain our microbes so we can keep our germs to ourselves, no way to see a way to build a clean room for ourselves, and we have shown that the ISS is fairly close to a clean room we would not need additional efforts there
Q: given improving biological science, can data be used to resurrect or rebuild an alien microbe?
A: secretions that are at least 20% of micro organisms that are a spike that allow them to puncture other organisms and use their cells as food, so lots of organisms can function on their own
Q: mining in the permanently shadowed regions?
A: the planetary protection requirement changes and the hardware requirements would be more stringent if you are in that region of the moon
