The Open University's Faculty of STEM are bringing you a hybrid edition of Ask the Experts! Whether you join us at the Geological Society in London or online, you can engage with our panel. Please note that in-person tickets are limited, but we can accommodate larger numbers online. Please book the correct tickets, as each ticket type will receive different information.
About the event:
Finding life beyond Earth is a key objective of many current and future space exploration missions. But how can we be sure that if we detect life, the spacecraft hasn't taken it there? “Planetary protection” principles safeguard Solar System bodies from contamination by Earth life and protect Earth from possible life forms that may be returned from other Solar System bodies.
This event brings together some of the world’s foremost experts on planetary protection to explore what is meant by planetary protection, how the latest research is used to develop guidelines for missions, how these might differ depending on which planetary environment is the mission target, and what the future of planetary protection might look like as the space sector expands.
This public event is part of the Inaugural International COSPAR Planetary Protection Week. This week includes the biannual COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) meeting of the International Planetary Protection Panel, held in London for the first time thanks to support from the UK Space Agency.
The doors will open at 17.30 and you will have the chance to talk to experts from the Open University, NASA, ESA and more, before the panel event starts at 18.00.
Meet the panel:
Chair: Professor Caroline Smith
Professor Caroline Smith is the Head of Collections and Principal Curator of Meteorites at the Natural History Museum, UK. She was a member of the ESA/NASA Joint Science Working Group planning for a proposed Mars exploration mission, providing input and advice related to sample curation and containment during collection, caching and on return to Earth. She was UK representative for iMARS Phase 2, co-chairing the Science Team, and Co-PI of the European Commission Horizon2020 project EURO-CARES, which developed a roadmap for a future European Sample Curation Facility to curate samples returned from sample return missions. Caroline is also a member of ESA's Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee (HESAC), Chair of UK Space Agency’s Space Exploration Advisory Committee and a member of UK Space Agency’s Science Programme Advisory Committee. Caroline is working with colleagues at the NHM developing a new Space Exhibition, scheduled to open at the Museum in Spring 2025.
Panel member: Professor Karen Olsson-Francis:
Professor Karen Olsson-Francis is a professor of Geomicrobiology and the director of AstrobiologyOU. Karen is the UK Space Agency’s (UKSA’s) representative on the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Planetary Protection Panel, chaired a sub-committee relating to the future direction of the planetary protection regulations for Mars and chairs the UK Planetary protection advisory panel. She authored a report for the UKSA on a lunar framework for planetary protection and was part of the EU-funded Planetary Protection of the Outer Solar System study. She is also developing approaches for measuring diversity in low-biomass environments.
Panel member: Niklas Hedman
Niklas Hedman is Vice-Chair of the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection. From March 2022 until September 2023, when he retired from the United Nations, he was appointed Acting Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). He was Chief of the Committee, Policy and Legal Affairs Section of UNOOSA for 18 years, where he served as Secretary of the intergovernmental Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and its Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and Legal Subcommittee. Before joining the United Nations in 2006 he worked in the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, representing Sweden to COPUOS for 10 years.
Panel member: Dr Athena Coustenis
Dr Athena Coustenis is Director of Research in Astrophysics with the French Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at Paris Observatory, specializing in Planetology. She contributes to the development and exploitation of space missions (such as Cassini-Huygens, JUICE and ARIEL) investigating the atmospheres and surfaces of planets, satellites and exoplanets. She is currently the President of the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection, of the Science evaluation committee of the French National Center for Space Studies and Vice-Chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. She is a member of several other national and international bodies.
Panel member: Dr J. Nick Benardini
Dr J. Nick Benardini is a microbiologist and the Planetary Protection Officer in the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. Nick has more than 20 years of experience in flight implementation, research, and technology development. He has conducted research in environmental microbiology, studying extreme environments and working in both applied research and field studies. He has actively participated in the implementation teams for the Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory, InSight 2016 and Mars 2020 Missions, where he led the InSight 2016 and Mars 2020 missions. Nick received his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology at the University of Arizona and his PhD in Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry at the University of Idaho.
Panel member: Silvio Sinibaldi
Silvio Sinibaldi is the Planetary Protection Officer for ESA (European Space Agency). He holds a degree in Materials Science and a Master's (MSc) in Nanotechnology, both from the University of Perugia. He is a professional materials and processes, cleanliness & contamination and Planetary Protection expert, having worked at Airbus Defence and Space UK as the Planetary Protection & Cleanliness and Contamination Lead for the ExoMars Rover and Mars Sample Return. Silvio is a member of the COSPAR Planetary Protection Panel and other European working groups developing space standards and specifications for the industry. He is currently studying a PhD at the Open University investigating innovative methodologies in planetary protection.
Book tickets here.