  We recommend that the planetary science and space exploration community
engage in a robust reevaluation concerning the ethics of how future crewed and
uncrewed missions to the Moon and Mars will interact with those planetary
environments. This should occur through a process of community input, with
emphasis on how such missions can resist colonial structures. Such discussions
must be rooted in the historical context of the violent colonialism in the
Americas and across the globe that has accompanied exploration of Earth. The
structures created by settler colonialism are very much alive today, impact the
scientific community, and are currently replicated in the space exploration
communities' plans for human exploration and in-situ resource utilization.
These discussions must lead to enforceable planetary protection policies that
create a framework for ethical exploration of other worlds. Current policy does
not adequately address questions related to in-situ resource utilization and
environmental preservation and is without enforcement mechanisms. Further,
interactions with potential extraterrestrial life have scientific and moral
stakes. Decisions on these topics will be made in the coming decade as the
Artemis program enables frequent missions to the Moon and crewed missions to
Mars. Those first choices will have irreversible consequences for the future of
human space exploration and must be extremely well considered, with input from
those beyond the scientific community, including expertise from the humanities
and members of the general public. Without planetary protection policy that
actively resists colonial practices, they will be replicated in our
interactions and exploration of other planetary bodies. The time is now to
engage in these difficult conversations and disrupt colonial practices within
our field so that they are not carried to other worlds.
