Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)

The Mars Sample Return Planning Group 2 (MSPG2) was tasked with identifying the steps that encompass all the curation activities that would happen within the MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) and any anticipated curation-related requirements. An area of specific interest is the necessary analytica...

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Main Author: Summons, Roger
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mary Ann Liebert Inc 2023
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148257
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author Summons, Roger
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Summons, Roger
author_sort Summons, Roger
collection MIT
description The Mars Sample Return Planning Group 2 (MSPG2) was tasked with identifying the steps that encompass all the curation activities that would happen within the MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) and any anticipated curation-related requirements. An area of specific interest is the necessary analytical instrumentation. The SRF would be a Biosafety Level-4 facility where the returned MSR flight hardware would be opened, the sample tubes accessed, and the martian sample material extracted from the tubes. Characterization of the essential attributes of each sample would be required to provide enough information to prepare a sample catalog used in guiding the preparation of sample-related proposals by the world's research community and informing decisions by the sample allocation committee. The sample catalog would be populated with data and information generated during all phases of activity, including data derived concurrent with Mars 2020 sample-collecting rover activity, sample transport to Earth, and initial sample characterization within the SRF. We conclude that initial sample characterization can best be planned as a set of three sequential phases, which we have called Pre-Basic Characterization (Pre-BC), Basic Characterization (BC), and Preliminary Examination (PE), each of which requires a certain amount of instrumentation. Data on specific samples and subsamples obtained during sample safety assessments and time-sensitive scientific investigations would also be added to the catalog. There are several areas where future work would be beneficial to prepare for the receipt of samples, which would include the design of a sample tube isolation chamber and a strategy for opening the sample tubes and removing dust from the tube exteriors.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1482572023-03-01T03:02:24Z Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) Summons, Roger Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences The Mars Sample Return Planning Group 2 (MSPG2) was tasked with identifying the steps that encompass all the curation activities that would happen within the MSR Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) and any anticipated curation-related requirements. An area of specific interest is the necessary analytical instrumentation. The SRF would be a Biosafety Level-4 facility where the returned MSR flight hardware would be opened, the sample tubes accessed, and the martian sample material extracted from the tubes. Characterization of the essential attributes of each sample would be required to provide enough information to prepare a sample catalog used in guiding the preparation of sample-related proposals by the world's research community and informing decisions by the sample allocation committee. The sample catalog would be populated with data and information generated during all phases of activity, including data derived concurrent with Mars 2020 sample-collecting rover activity, sample transport to Earth, and initial sample characterization within the SRF. We conclude that initial sample characterization can best be planned as a set of three sequential phases, which we have called Pre-Basic Characterization (Pre-BC), Basic Characterization (BC), and Preliminary Examination (PE), each of which requires a certain amount of instrumentation. Data on specific samples and subsamples obtained during sample safety assessments and time-sensitive scientific investigations would also be added to the catalog. There are several areas where future work would be beneficial to prepare for the receipt of samples, which would include the design of a sample tube isolation chamber and a strategy for opening the sample tubes and removing dust from the tube exteriors. 2023-02-28T19:11:48Z 2023-02-28T19:11:48Z 2022 2023-02-28T19:05:32Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148257 Summons, Roger. 2022. "Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)." Astrobiology, 22 (S1). en 10.1089/AST.2021.0105 Astrobiology Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Mary Ann Liebert Inc Mary Ann Liebert
spellingShingle Summons, Roger
Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)
title Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)
title_full Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)
title_fullStr Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)
title_full_unstemmed Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)
title_short Preliminary Planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) Curation Activities in a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF)
title_sort preliminary planning for mars sample return msr curation activities in a sample receiving facility srf
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148257
work_keys_str_mv AT summonsroger preliminaryplanningformarssamplereturnmsrcurationactivitiesinasamplereceivingfacilitysrf