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The threat from life on Mars
Nigel Hawkes
Originally Published on TimesOnline.co.uk
Earth’s defences may need to be boosted against risk of potentially deadly microbes returning on space probes.
EARTH must take precautions to avoid contamination from lifeforms that must now be presumed to exist on Mars, leading scientists gave warning yesterday. Potentially deadly microorganisms could be returned to Earth on a probe which is being planned to collect samples from the Martian surface.
The warning comes after a detailed scientific analysis of data sent back by the roving vehicle Opportunity which landed on Mars on January 25.
Jeffrey Kargel of the US Geological Survey said that protection of our own planet from alien forms of life requires the assumption that Martian life exists. “Before proceeding with sample returns or human missions to Mars, we must review measures for planetary biological protection.”
His warning appears in Science magazine in an article accompanying the first formal publication of the mass of data from Opportunity, which continues to operate on the Martian surface.
The search for life on Mars, now more than a century old, is still not finally resolved. But the odds that life existed there and may still exist are shortening, according to planetary experts, Dr Kargel said.
Nobody any longer expects Martian life forms to be anything like those on Earth. But there remains a possibility that bacteria or other microscopic organisms may survive in regions where there is still water. On Earth, almost every imaginable habitat, including deep underground, has specialised bacteria — called extremophiles — living and thriving.
The risks are twofold: probes sent from Earth may contaminate Mars with terrestrial bacteria, wrecking future studies of Martian life; or, more important, bacteria brought back from Mars may contaminate the Earth with unpredictable effects.
Similar precautions were taken at the time of the Apollo Moon landings. Astronauts returned to Earth were kept in quarantine after they landed for fear they might be infected with a lunar bug. None was.
-Mars-tutkimuksen kanssa pitää olla varovainen. Maahan palaavat alukset voivat tuoda tuliaisena Marsista mikrobeja, jotka saattaisivat olla ihmisille tappavia, koska emme ole joutuneet niiden kanssa ennen mihinkään tekemisiin, eikä kenelläkään ole immuniteettia Marsin mikrobeja vastaan.
Herää kysymys tarvitseeko Mars-alus ottaa maassa vastaan vai voitaisiinko sellainen pitää kiertoradalla kaukana maan pinnasta jotta saastumista ei tapahdu.
The threat from life on Mars
Nigel Hawkes
Originally Published on TimesOnline.co.uk
Earth’s defences may need to be boosted against risk of potentially deadly microbes returning on space probes.
EARTH must take precautions to avoid contamination from lifeforms that must now be presumed to exist on Mars, leading scientists gave warning yesterday. Potentially deadly microorganisms could be returned to Earth on a probe which is being planned to collect samples from the Martian surface.
The warning comes after a detailed scientific analysis of data sent back by the roving vehicle Opportunity which landed on Mars on January 25.
Jeffrey Kargel of the US Geological Survey said that protection of our own planet from alien forms of life requires the assumption that Martian life exists. “Before proceeding with sample returns or human missions to Mars, we must review measures for planetary biological protection.”
His warning appears in Science magazine in an article accompanying the first formal publication of the mass of data from Opportunity, which continues to operate on the Martian surface.
The search for life on Mars, now more than a century old, is still not finally resolved. But the odds that life existed there and may still exist are shortening, according to planetary experts, Dr Kargel said.
Nobody any longer expects Martian life forms to be anything like those on Earth. But there remains a possibility that bacteria or other microscopic organisms may survive in regions where there is still water. On Earth, almost every imaginable habitat, including deep underground, has specialised bacteria — called extremophiles — living and thriving.
The risks are twofold: probes sent from Earth may contaminate Mars with terrestrial bacteria, wrecking future studies of Martian life; or, more important, bacteria brought back from Mars may contaminate the Earth with unpredictable effects.
Similar precautions were taken at the time of the Apollo Moon landings. Astronauts returned to Earth were kept in quarantine after they landed for fear they might be infected with a lunar bug. None was.
-Mars-tutkimuksen kanssa pitää olla varovainen. Maahan palaavat alukset voivat tuoda tuliaisena Marsista mikrobeja, jotka saattaisivat olla ihmisille tappavia, koska emme ole joutuneet niiden kanssa ennen mihinkään tekemisiin, eikä kenelläkään ole immuniteettia Marsin mikrobeja vastaan.
Herää kysymys tarvitseeko Mars-alus ottaa maassa vastaan vai voitaisiinko sellainen pitää kiertoradalla kaukana maan pinnasta jotta saastumista ei tapahdu.
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