EURO-CARES: GETTING EUROPE READY FOR SAMPLE RETURN MISSIONS - AN EMPHASIS ON RESTRICTED MISSIONS

EURO-CARES (European Curation of Astromaterials Returned from Exploration of Space) was a three year (2015-2017) multinational project funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research programme. The objective of EURO-CARES was to create a roadmap for the implementation of a European Extra-terrestrial Sample Curation Facility (ESCF) suitable for the curation of samples from all possible return missions, to the Moon, asteroids, Mars, and other bodies of the Solar System. Here we summarize the main recommendations from the final project report for design and infrastructure requirements to allow the curation of samples from restricted bodies such as Mars. Over the course of the project, the team has visited various facilities and companies, to gather best practices, bring innovative ideas, and build a strong network with the international sample curation community. Visits were made to the astromaterials curation facilities of NASA and JAXA, and to related facilities from the nuclear, cleanroom and BSL-4 sectors. Two successful collaborations with architects (Space architecture department of the Technical University of Vienna (Austria), then Merrick and Co. in Kanata (Canada) [1]) resulted in the development of more refined requirements and tentative designs for a Mars Sample Return (MSR) facility. All possible activities that would take place in a MSR facility were first identified. All activities related to receiving, assessing, and opening the Earth Return Capsule are performed in a Sample Receiving Facility. Further activities, such as curation, Sample Early Characterization, andstorage would be performed in a Sample Curation Facility (SCF). The SCF would also include a suite of instruments necessary for analyses defined in a Biohazard Assessment Protocol and for Life Detection. In addition, an Analogue and Mock-Up Facility (to be constructed first) would be used to assemble an analogue material collection, to test instruments and building materials/techniques, and to train staff members. A MSR facility needs to integrate both cleanliness and containment principles, to keep the samples pristine, and to fulfill the Planetary Protection requirement of having a probability of release P