# Why planetary and exoplanetary protection differ: The case of long duration Genesis missions to habitable but sterile M-dwarf oxygen planets

## TL;DR

This paper discusses the ethical and practical differences between planetary and exoplanetary protection, emphasizing the impact of long-duration interstellar Genesis missions on potentially sterile habitable exoplanets around M-dwarfs.

## Contribution

It highlights the qualitative differences in protection protocols for interstellar versus solar system missions due to vastly different timescales and explores the implications of sterile M-dwarf planets for planetary protection.

## Key findings

- Interstellar probes require millennia-long travel times, affecting protection strategies.
- Many habitable exoplanets around M-dwarfs may be sterile due to primordial oxygen atmospheres.
- Galactic habitability considerations are influenced by the prevalence of sterile M-dwarf planets.

## Abstract

Time is arguably the key limiting factor for interstellar exploration. At high speeds, flyby missions to nearby stars by laser propelled wafersats taking 50-100 years would be feasible. Directed energy launch systems could accelerate on the other side also crafts weighing several tons to cruising speeds of the order of 1000\,km/s (c/300). At these speeds, superconducting magnetic sails would be able to decelerate the craft by transferring kinetic energy to the protons of the interstellar medium. A tantalizing perspective, which would allow interstellar probes to stop whenever time is not a limiting factor. Prime candidates are in this respect Genesis probes, that is missions aiming to offer terrestrial life new evolutionary pathways on potentially habitable but hitherto barren exoplanets. Genesis missions raise important ethical issues, in particular with regard to planetary protection. Here we argue that exoplanetary and planetary protection differ qualitatively as a result of the vastly different cruising times for payload delivering probes, which are of the order of millennia for interstellar probes, but only of years for solar system bodies. Furthermore we point out that our galaxy may harbor a large number of habitable exoplanets, M-dwarf planets, which could be sterile due to the presence of massive primordial oxygen atmospheres. We believe that the prospect terrestrial life has in our galaxy would shift on a fundamental level in case that the existence of this type of habitable but sterile oxygen planets will be corroborated by future research. It may also explain why our sun is not a M dwarf, the most common star type, but a medium-sized G-class star.