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Ph.D. Gerhard KMINEK Planetary Protection Officer, European Space Agency, Noordwijk

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 Mr. Kminek is Planetary Protection Officer for the European Space Agency since 2004. He served as chair of the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection, the containment facility and planetary protection team in the frame of the international Mars architecture for sample return working group, co-chaired of the joint ESA-NASA science working group for Mars sample return, chaired several ECSS working groups and task force and organised a number of international workshops and colloquia to review and revise planetary protection policy and requirements. Prior he was Principal Investigator of two microgravity experiments on Space Shuttle flights STS-80 and STS-95 and worked in the ESA Advanced Concepts Team and the Aurora Exploration Program. He has a Master Degree in Science from the University in Vienna and a Doctorate in Earth Science from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California.