NASA contracts SETI to ensure it is compliant with planetary protection standards for present and future missions

SETI will provide technical reviews and recommendations, validate biological cleanliness on flight projects, provide training for NASA and its partners.

FP Trending|Jul 14, 2020, 11:16:43 IST

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded the SETI Institute with a contract for planetary protection. The contract has been given by NASA’s Office of Planetary Protection (OPP) to support all phases of current and future missions to ensure compliance with planetary protection standards. The contract is effective from 1 July.

“As we return to the Moon, look for evidence of past or present life on Mars and continue our missions of exploration and discovery in the Solar System, Planetary Protection becomes an increasingly important component of mission planning and execution,” said Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute. “We are proud to be NASA’s partner for this mission-critical function, protecting Earth from backward contamination, and helping ensure that the life we may find on other worlds, didn’t come from our own.”[caption id="attachment_8594691" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

The SETI Institute will look into protecting both Earth and mission destinations from biological contamination.[/caption]The SETI Institute will provide technical reviews and recommendations, validate biological cleanliness on flight projects, provide training for NASA and NASA partners.

Besides, it will develop guidelines for implementation of NASA requirements, and disseminate information to stakeholders and the public.

The OPP’s work includes protecting both Earth and mission destinations from biological contamination. It will also preserve environments, as well as the science, ensuring verifiable scientific exploration for extraterrestrial life.

Careless Whispers: Scientists discover that plants can 'talk' to each other using smells

Japanese scientists have recorded a video that shows plants, in certain conditions, communicate with each other using mists that carry smells. The discovery, reveals that plants release a fine mist of airborne compounds, to warn nearby plants of potential dangers

Life on Mars? European Space Agency’s Orbiter discovers ice water deposits at equator

European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter has identified massive ice and ice water deposits beneath the surface of Mars. The Mars Express orbiter was also the first to confirmed the presence of ice on Mars in 2004

Microsoft briefly overtakes Apple as the most valuable company, Apple back on top again

At its peak during the session, Microsoft's value reached $2.903 trillion, with a 2% surge. As of writing this article, Apple closed at $2.89 trillion, whereas Microsoft closed at $2.86 trillion

Even NASA is facing a tough time, starts layoffs following major budget cuts

NASA is facing some massive budget cuts, because of which, it has been forced to postpone some upcoming missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been hit hard by recent federal budget cuts, resulting in the layoff of 100 contractors last week

ISRO, NASA's NISAR satellite to get ready by Jan-end, will monitor Earth's snow-covered regions

The NISAR satellite which has been developed jointly ISRO and NASA, should be ready for launch by the end of January 2024. The collaboration between NASA and ISRO on NISAR is the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission

Up Next