Planetary Protection Course

RAL Space hosts an annual Planetary Protection Course, delivered by instructors from ESA, NASA the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Regensburg and the German Air and Space Agency, DLR.

Planetary Protection is an area that ESA and NASA have routinely worked on collaboratively, which requires an understanding of how to verify the microbiological cleanliness of spacecraft headed to other planets to preserve those planets in their natural state for generations of space scientists to come.

Course participants will have access to laboratory facilities in the Harwell Research Complex (link opens in a new window) which provides invaluable practical expertise of basic microbiology and sample handling.