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The frequency is much higher from Mars to Earth, but you only need one Earth microbial spore to survive the journey to contaminate Mars.
by danieltillett 10y ago
The frequency is much higher from Mars to Earth, but you only need one Earth microbial spore to survive the journey to contaminate Mars.
- whack 10y agoDepending on where it lands, and how it interacts with the Mars environment, a large number of microbial spores can land on Mars without causing any problems. Given that what you're saying is possible, but not probable, it totally makes sense for NASA to take precautions to ensure that they don't destroy the Mars ecosystem through their Mars landings.
- danieltillett 10y agoThere is no way earth microbes can destroy the Mars ecosystem since both will have the same microorganisms. It is unlikely that a Earth rock landing on Mars now will land somewhere productive, but in the past when Mars had surface water it was much more likely. The really interesting thing is we know so little about the micro-organisms here on Earth that we would not even be able to tell if we find a new phylum of bacteria or archea on Mars if it was native or not.