By: Abeer Khan
13 Jun, 2025
CIFAR researchers win NASA’s 2024-2025 Agency Honor Award for breakthrough in space exploration
June 13, 2025
Barbara Sherwood Lollar and Heather Graham contributed critical scientific and safety expertise to the Mars Sample Return Campaign, a historic effort to retrieve and analyze scientifically selected samples from Mars.
The Mars Sample Return Campaign Study team, featuring several Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration program members, has received NASA’s 2024-2025 Agency Honor Award for their pivotal role in advancing one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings in space exploration history.
Program Co-Director Barbara Sherwood Lollar and Fellow Heather Graham are part of the prestigious team, with leadership from Rachel Mackelprang of California State University, Northridge, recognized for their outstanding analysis and safety input into the design of the Sample Safety Assessment Protocol for the Mars Sample Return Campaign, a historic effort to retrieve and analyze scientifically selected samples from Mars.
Mars Sample Return will enable the first-ever analyses of samples collected from another planet, providing unique scientific insights not attainable through orbital or landed missions. The samples, a high priority for the planetary science community, can provide new insights regarding Mars habitability, life on and possibly beyond Earth and planetary evolution in this solar system and beyond.
“I am delighted to congratulate Barbara, Heather and Rachel on this exceptional recognition. At CIFAR, we support bold ideas and researchers who push the boundaries of knowledge. Their work is a vital step in uncovering the secrets of our solar system and the possibility of life beyond Earth,” says CIFAR President & CEO Stephen Toope.
To support the mission’s scientific goals and safety standards, the large award-winning team helped define key scientific measurements and a safety assessment protocol for a specialized Sample Return Facility, where the samples can be investigated. Their outstanding work ensures the protection of the Earth’s biosphere.
“Work by myself, but much more through the vision and expertise of Fellow Heather Graham and the incredible leadership of Rachel Mackelprang, and the whole team, all contributed to developing a science-based approach for samples returned from space, applicable not only to Mars but to other possible future missions,” says Sherwood Lollar.
The team comprised subject matter experts from NASA, the European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, academia, the biopharmaceutical industry and employees across multiple U.S. federal government agencies.
“This is so gratifying to see the agency award our hard work on the Mars Sample Return campaign and I hope this signals future commitment as well,” says Graham.
While NASA funded the work, Sherwood Lollar highlights CIFAR’s key role in providing a forum for her and Graham to explore fundamental research questions about biosignatures — indicators that might suggest the presence of past or present life. This work aims to distinguish biosignatures from abiotic signals, indicators that can be produced without life, through non-living chemical or geological processes. This research is critical to determining the presence of life on other planets.
Their research, made possible through their CIFAR partnership and Catalyst Funds, as well as Graham’s role as the head of NASA’s Network for Life Detection, helped inform and inspire their contributions to the project.
“This is a great example of CIFAR-enabled fundamental research contributing to impact through policy and practice in planetary sciences and astrobiology,” says Sherwood Lollar.
Mackelprang, who was a guest speaker at a recent Earth 4D meeting, commended CIFAR for how the meeting’s discussions and conversations yielded new ideas and ways of thinking about her research that she wouldn’t have previously considered.
“The small group of amazing scientists, combined with a program designed to enable productive discussions, has resulted in one of the best meetings I’ve ever attended. I’m so impressed by the people, the science and the ideas that I’ve seen here.”
NASA awards are presented to carefully selected individuals and teams, both Government and non-Government, who have distinguished themselves by making outstanding contributions to the Agency’s mission.
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