The first Planetary Protection in Practice workshop was held virtually on October 18–19, 2022. The purpose of the two-day workshop was to (1) build an inclusive, diverse community of practice around planetary protection; (2) share knowledge between researchers, technology developers, and mission/instrument teams; (3) identify shared challenges and solution space to meet planetary protection requirements; (4) identify technology and knowledge gaps; and (5) instigate and create collaboration opportunities.

The workshop had 123 registrants from 18 countries. Sessions included Mission and Instrument Lessons Learned/Challenges, Methodology Development, Research Areas of Interest, Planetary Protection Organization and History, Technology Development, and Statistics in Planetary Protection.

The Science Organizing Committee (SOC) included Becky McCauley Rench (Chair, NASA Headquarters), Nick Benardini (NASA Headquarters), Elaine Seasly (NASA Headquarters), John Elliott (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and Heather Graham (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center). The workshop participants have self-organized into a writing team, and a workshop report is forthcoming.

For more information about the workshop, including links to the program and abstracts, visit https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/planetprotection2022/.

— Summary provided by Becky McCauley Rench, NASA Headquarters