NASA Procedural Requirements

NPR 7100.5 Effective Date: August 16, 2023 Expiration Date: August 16, 2028

Subject: Curation of Astromaterials

Responsible Office: Science Mission Directorate

Preface

P.1 Purpose

a. This NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) describes requirements and procedures necessary to effectively carry out NASA’s policy on maintaining the curation of institutional scientific collections, as it pertains to NASA-held extraterrestrial materials, as specified in NASA’s Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10, Curation of Institutional Scientific Collections, and to ensure that the scope and quality of the management provided by the Mission Directorates and NASA Centers are met.

b. This document specifically addresses: (1) requirements for the group of related institutional scientific collections of NASA-held extraterrestrial materials, henceforth called “astromaterials,” and (2) mission and project requirements associated with acquiring and curating new samples of astromaterials.

c. This NPR also establishes requirements for astromaterials regarding budgeting, accessibility plans, accessioning/deaccessioning of collections, frequency of collection review, management of collections (including quality control), documentation and accountability plans, and legal/ethical issues.

d. The requirements described in this NPR are used to develop Mission Directorate and NASA Center management processes.

P.2 Applicability

a. This NPR applies to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers, including Component Facilities and Technical and Service Support Centers. This document applies to Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, other contractors, recipients of grants or cooperative agreements, and parties to other agreements to the extent specified or referenced in applicable contracts or agreements.

b. The requirements of this document apply to astromaterials acquired by NASA, or with NASA funds, including current institutional collections and those not yet accessioned into an institutional astromaterials collection.

c. The requirements of this document apply to missions, campaigns, programs, activities, projects, sub-projects, and any other NASA ventures that aim to: collect samples of astromaterials on Earth, return samples of astromaterials to Earth, or acquire astromaterials in space or on other planetary bodies, with the intention of future Earth return by a later mission.

d. NASA officials responsible for applicable missions, campaigns, programs, activities, projects, sub-projects, or any other NASA ventures will impose, or work directly with the Office of Procurement to impose if necessary, these requirements in such directives or contractual instruments as may be necessary to ensure their implementation.

e. In this directive, all mandatory actions (i.e., requirements) are denoted by statements containing the term "shall." The terms: “may” or “can” denote discretionary privilege or permission, "should" denotes a good practice and is recommended, but not required; "will" denotes expected outcome; and, "are/is" denotes descriptive material.

f. In this NPR, all document citations are assumed to be the latest version unless otherwise noted.

P.3 Authority

a. National Aeronautics and Space Act, 51 U.S.C. § 20113 (a).

b. NPD 1000.3, The NASA Organization.

c. NPD 7100.10, Curation of Institutional Scientific Collections.

P.4 Applicable Documents and Forms

a. NPD 1050.7, Authority to Enter into Partnership Agreements.

b. NPD 8700.1, NASA Policy for Safety and Mission Success.

c. NPR 1441.1, NASA Records Management Program Requirements.

d. NPR 8715.24, Planetary Protection Provisions for Robotic Extraterrestrial Missions.

e. NRRS 1441, NASA Records Retention Schedules.

f. STD 8719.27, Implementing Planetary Protection Requirements for Space Flight.

P.5 Measurement/Verification

Annual reports will be submitted to the Office of the Chief Scientist by the Associate Administrator (AA) of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) describing the status of NASA’s astromaterial sample collections.

P.6 Cancellation

None.

DISTRIBUTION:
NODIS

This document does not bind the public, except as authorized by law or as incorporated into a contract. This document is uncontrolled when printed. Check the NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) Library to verify that this is the correct version before use: https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov.