Drawing on a consortium of experts from The Open University, the University of Münster, Birkbeck, University of London,  the University of Tuscia, Técnico Lisboa, Northumbria University and the Technical University of Munich, the study reviews current understanding of how organic and biological contamination could affect PSRs through future lunar exploration activities, particularly in the polar regions, and identifies key knowledge gaps that remain. It recommends mitigation strategies built on modelling, monitoring and environmental impact assessment, and calls for better contamination traceability and more ground-truth data to establish a reliable baseline. It also proposes a sustainable approach to PSR exploration; prioritising sites and applying temporal restrictions to avoid a 'gold rush' that could compromise their scientific integrity.

“For maximising the scientific potential of the lunar PSRs and improving our understanding of the history of volatiles, commonly associated with the origin of life in the Solar System, it is prudent to use a cautious approach in exploring the Moon. In this context, our study highlights significant gaps in the current knowledge and understanding of the lunar PSRs as archives of such early Solar System records. Consequently, we make several recommendations for future work in the spirit of enabling a sustainable and responsible exploration of the Moon by all space actors.” – Mahesh Anand, The Open University

The stakes are high. PSRs are thought to have trapped volatiles, including water, over billions of years, offering a rare window onto the origins of water in the Moon and the inner Solar System, and potentially preserving evidence of prebiotic chemistry relevant to the origin of life. These same volatiles are also of growing interest as a resource for in situ resource utilisation (ISRU), making PSRs valuable to science and exploration alike.

That dual value is precisely what is now at risk. With a growing concentration of missions – commercial and institutional, robotic and human – planned for the lunar south pole, the risk of introducing contamination through spacecraft outgassing, propulsion systems, payloads and surface activity is rising quickly. Far from halting exploration, planetary protection - guided by COSPAR policy - enables it, by ensuring that contamination is properly assessed, controlled, and monitored.

The Moon will not wait. Every mission that lands in the coming years brings us closer to answering some of the biggest questions about our Solar System's origins; and closer to the point where those answers could become more elusive. A window of opportunity remains, through coordinated international collaboration, to get this right: for the science, and for the generations who will build on it.

Further Information

About the European Science Foundation

The European Science Foundation (ESF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to advancing high-quality research across Europe and beyond since 1974, offering expert, independent management and support throughout the entire research lifecycle; from conception and implementation to evaluation, sustainability and impact. Based in Strasbourg, France, ESF works with research funding organisations, European agencies, universities and philanthropies to provide high-quality, independent science partnerships across all disciplines.

Note to Editors

The full study is available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117726011841