Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis

The United States possesses a treasure trove of extraterrestrial samples that were returned to Earth via space missions over the past four decades. Following the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Apollo and USSR Luna sample return missions to the Moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s, samples of the solar wind (Genesis, 2004), a cometary coma and interstellar dust (Stardust, 2006), and an asteroid (Hayabusa, operated by the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, 2010) have all been returned to Earth. In addition, there are two missions under way to primitive asteroids (JAXA’s Hayabusa2 and NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx) that are expected to return samples in the 2020s. Plans are in the making to return samples from Mars, the martian moon Phobos, a cometary nucleus, additional samples from the Moon, and, perhaps eventually, ices from comets, lunar polar impact basins, and outer solar system moons. Analyses of previously returned samples have led to major breakthroughs in the understanding of the age, composition, and origin of the solar system. Having the instrumentation, facilities, and qualified personnel to undertake analyses of returned samples, especially from missions that take up to a decade or longer from launch to return, is thus of paramount importance if NASA is to capitalize fully on the investment made in these missions and to achieve the full scientific impact afforded by these extraordinary samples. Planetary science may be entering a new golden era of extraterrestrial sample return; now is the time to assess how prepared the scientific community is to take advantage of these opportunities. In response to a request from NASA, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine established the Committee on Extraterrestrial Sample Analysis Facilities to determine the current capabilities within the planetary science community for sample return analyses and curation and where these facilities are located; to assess what capabilities are currently missing that will be needed for future sample return missions, as guided by the decadal survey;¹ to evaluate whether current laboratory support infrastructure and NASA’s investment strategy are adequate to meet these analytical challenges; and to advise how the community can keep abreast of evolving and new techniques in order to stay at the forefront of extraterrestrial sample analysis. Readers are directed to the following chapters: • Chapter 1: Introduction • Chapter 2: Sample Return Missions and Other Collections • Chapter 3: Current Sample Return Missions and Near-Future Priorities Outlined in the Planetary Science Decadal Survey • Chapter 4: Current Laboratories and Facilities • Chapter 5: Current and Future Instrumentation and Investments for Extraterrestrial Sample Analysis The committee concludes that the planetary science analytical community has access to a wide range of instrumentation relevant to sample return missions that are currently flying, and there are no obvious gaps in instrumentation for analysis of rocks, glasses, minerals, and the current inventory of organic materials. However, the committee raises concerns about sample analysis capabilities needed for future missions, including the replacement of aging analytical facilities, the ability for laboratories to innovate and evolve from their current state, and the ability to maintain the technical support to sustain these laboratories. In addition, as many of the current planetary sample scientists will be retired before some of these missions are flown, laboratory sustainability requires training young scientists in analytical methods and instrumentation and growing the next crop of instrument developers. With the greater challenges of possible future sample return missions that seek to return martian samples, or possibly ices and gases, the committee concludes that developing new partnerships with related communities that analyze terrestrial samples, international collaboration, and finding ways for interdisciplinary discussion and knowledge sharing will be critical. The above needs are superimposed upon a flat budget for purchasing instrumentation, which, because it does not track inflation, represents declining spending power. Thus, if NASA does not invest new funds into the replacement of current instrumentation and development of new technologies, technical staff support, and training the next generation of analysts, the current capabilities cannot be sustained, and development and adoption of new technologies will be impaired. Under such a scenario, NASA will need to plan for a reduction in the number of laboratories supported by the Planetary Science Division (PSD) funding program.