NASA’s Office of Planetary Protection is looking toward the future of solar system exploration and now has a new logo to represent its mission effectively.

The updated logo, designed in partnership with the NASA Safety Center, embodies exploration of the solar system while emphasizing the importance of Planetary Protection (PP) and its connection to enabling science with safety at the forefront.

The logo also highlights the focus on Earth’s biosphere while embracing and supplementing the traditional spore assay with metagenomics methods. Additionally, it captures both a robotic and crew mission portfolio through its design.

The creation of this new logo was a passion project for PP Officer Nick Benardini and Acting Deputy PP Officer Erin Lalime.

“We wanted to create a logo that clearly communicates our mission and visually captures the many aspects that go into the discipline of PP,” said Benardini. “This discipline is complex and multi-faceted, so we set out to design a logo that encapsulates each element and accurately represents the important work we do in a holistic way.”

The logo also serves as a way of ushering in the next era of the PP discipline.

“Our discipline is constantly shifting as we utilize new technologies and make scientific discoveries,” said Lalime. “This logo represents our forward-thinking approach and serves as an icon for the work we’re doing now and our future direction.”

To learn more about the Planetary Protection discipline, visit the PP website.