Planetary protection: How to explore Mars and other worlds responsibly
[ad_1]
It’s an exciting time to search for life on other worlds. From NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars to the agency’s Europa Clipper mission at Jupiter, a variety of current and upcoming space exploration missions will take us closer to understanding whether there is life beyond Earth.
But the things that make these worlds such fascinating places make it necessary for us to tread carefully. Throughout history, humans have devastated ecosystems in the act of exploration, both accidentally and intentionally.
Responsibly exploring other worlds is the purview of a field called planetary protection. While it may sound like its goal is protecting us from aliens, planetary protection means protecting other worlds from Earthly microbes and containing possible microbes that sample return missions might bring back to Earth.
Planetary protection is an exercise in risk assessment and tradeoffs. As we learn more about other worlds, our rules on how to explore them must evolve. We want to be responsible without making requirements so burdensome and expensive that we can’t explore at all.
The Planetary Society supports responsible planetary exploration, as laid out in our space policy and advocacy principles. So what does it mean to explore other worlds responsibly?
How to sterilize a spacecraft
Our bodies host entire ecosystems of microbes that leak out of us via our skin, bodily fluids, and breath, and are extraordinarily difficult to contain. Some of these microbes are extremely hearty and may be able to survive trips through interplanetary space.
Since the advent of space exploration, scientists have pondered what could happen if Earth microbes hitched a ride on a spacecraft to another world. While many Earth bugs would die quickly on Mars’ surface, some could survive in other places, such as pockets of liquid water beneath the surface. There, they could potentially thrive and overrun any existing Martian life.
Even if Mars is currently lifeless, letting our microbes run rampant there could complicate the search for Martian life, although DNA and gene sequencing could likely determine a microbe’s origins.
The solution? Before a spacecraft travels to a destination like Mars, we sterilize it to remove living Earth contaminants. Some components are baked at high temperatures, while other components are wiped down with hydrogen peroxide or ethylene oxide.
But how sterile should a spacecraft be? And what about humans, who cannot be sterilized before launch?
[ad_2]
Original Post
excellent post, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector don’t notice this. You should proceed your writing. I am confident, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Great work!
You actually make it appear so easy with your presentation however I in finding this matter to be really one thing that I feel I might by no means understand. It kind of feels too complex and very broad for me. I’m having a look forward in your subsequent submit, I¦ll try to get the cling of it!
Some truly great information, Gladiola I detected this. “The basis of a democratic state is liberty.” by Aristotle.
This is a topic close to my heart cheers, where are your contact details though?
Simply a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw great pattern.
I liked as much as you will obtain carried out proper here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nevertheless, you command get got an impatience over that you would like be turning in the following. unwell definitely come further in the past once more since precisely the same nearly very steadily within case you defend this increase.
Just want to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is just excellent and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the gratifying work.
hello there and thank you for your info – I have certainly picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical points using this site, as I experienced to reload the site a lot of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Well I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for a lot more of your respective exciting content. Ensure that you update this again very soon..
Regards for this rattling post, I am glad I noticed this web site on yahoo.
Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch because I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! “We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.” by Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
I have not checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I will add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
Just desire to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is just great and i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the gratifying work.
Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News. Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Thanks
Some genuinely interesting details you have written.Helped me a lot, just what I was looking for : D.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You obviously know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something informative to read?
Real instructive and superb anatomical structure of subject matter, now that’s user friendly (:.
Hey there! This post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
I genuinely enjoy studying on this website , it has wonderful content.
I am glad to be a visitor of this everlasting web blog! , appreciate it for this rare info ! .
Please let me know if you’re looking for a author for your blog. You have some really good posts and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an email if interested. Many thanks!
Wonderful goods from you, man. I have have in mind your stuff previous to and you’re just too fantastic. I actually like what you’ve received here, really like what you are stating and the way in which through which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it smart. I cant wait to read much more from you. That is really a tremendous web site.
The next time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I imply, I know it was my option to read, but I really thought youd have one thing interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you possibly can repair when you werent too busy on the lookout for attention.
Great line up. We will be linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the good writing.
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz respond as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. thanks a lot
This web site is really a walk-through for all of the info you wanted about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it.
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is attractive, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an impatience over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this increase.
This design is steller! You obviously know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
I¦ve recently started a website, the information you offer on this website has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.