Workshop Report- Metagenomics in Spaceflight: Establishing an Implementation Roadmap

As space agencies prepare for complex missions such as human exploration of Mars and life detection, Planetary Protection (PP) risk assessments would benefit from extending beyond traditional microbial monitoring methods like the Standard Spore Assay (SSA). Metagenomics offers a powerful complementary approach, enabling detection of non-culturable organisms and providing functional insights essential for risk-informed decision-making. However, operational best practices would include rigorous validation, standardization, and integration into PP frameworks. In November 2024, NASA Ames Research Center hosted a workshop with experts from academia, government, and industry to assess the readiness of metagenomic methods for PP and outline a roadmap for implementation. Discussions addressed six key areas: (1) safety-critical decision making, (2) microbial dark matter, (3) ultra-low biomass metagenomics, (4) bioinformatics and databases, (5) technology development and automation, and (6) human health and the built environment. Cross-cutting recommendations included adopting tiered testing frameworks, developing shared reference standards, standardizing protocols and metadata, building probabilistic risk models, and investing in automation and contamination-aware technologies. These actions aim to enable metagenomics as a robust tool for Planetary Protection in future space missions.