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some extremophiles from underneath the polar ice caps. some billionaire has to be thinking that their ultimate "mark on the universe" would be to start seeding

some extremophiles from underneath the polar ice caps. some billionaire has to be thinking that their ultimate "mark on the universe" would be to start seeding life on mars. Call it the 21st century version of the Carnegie donation program. The Gates Path to Life. Sounds romantic.

nefitty 11y ago
I'm pretty sure cargo like that is at the top of their rejection list in bold letters. Don't space agencies work super hard to disinfect and sterilize equipment that needs to land on other planets? It might actually be illegal to seed life on other planets, if I recall correctly.
- JamilD 11y ago
  I don't think it's illegal, but it is enforced by COSPAR's recommendations on Planetary Protection. Missions to Mars actually have a much higher threshold for avoiding contamination than, say, missions to the moon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_protection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_protection
- barkingcat 11y ago
  Nobody's gonna be enforcing that rule, even if it's in bold letters. Given enough money and motivation, you can get microbes to mars.
zipwitch 11y ago
For any sufficiently motivated person or group, it won't take a SpaceX Falcon to get a payload of extremophiles to Mars. A Cubesat (or other cheap, small satellite) on the Interplanetary Transport Network could work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Netwo... For all we know, it may already have been done. If we want to explore an uncontaminated Mars for native life, we have a very narrow window in which to do so. The ability to deliberately seed Mars with life is already amazingly cheap, and is swiftly become cheaper and more accessible.
- sampo 11y ago
  > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Netwo... But will this allow you to land on Mars, or just a flyby?

nefitty 11y ago

I'm pretty sure cargo like that is at the top of their rejection list in bold letters. Don't space agencies work super hard to disinfect and sterilize equipment that needs to land on other planets? It might actually be illegal to seed life on other planets, if I recall correctly.

JamilD 11y ago
I don't think it's illegal, but it is enforced by COSPAR's recommendations on Planetary Protection. Missions to Mars actually have a much higher threshold for avoiding contamination than, say, missions to the moon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_protection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_protection
barkingcat 11y ago
Nobody's gonna be enforcing that rule, even if it's in bold letters. Given enough money and motivation, you can get microbes to mars.

zipwitch 11y ago

For any sufficiently motivated person or group, it won't take a SpaceX Falcon to get a payload of extremophiles to Mars. A Cubesat (or other cheap, small satellite) on the Interplanetary Transport Network could work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Netwo... For all we know, it may already have been done. If we want to explore an uncontaminated Mars for native life, we have a very narrow window in which to do so. The ability to deliberately seed Mars with life is already amazingly cheap, and is swiftly become cheaper and more accessible.

sampo 11y ago
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Netwo... But will this allow you to land on Mars, or just a flyby?