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Part of the reason we're going out there is to find out whether or not we're alone in the universe and to learn more about how we ourselves might have come to b

by sq_ 7y ago

Part of the reason we're going out there is to find out whether or not we're alone in the universe and to learn more about how we ourselves might have come to be. I think there's a balance to be struck between planetary protection and getting humans out there. No matter what, once we send humans somewhere, there will be contamination, but we should at least make a good effort to avoid contamination when possible.

devoply 7y ago
No we should not. We should be expedient and expansionary in space not stiffing any opportunity with any unnecessary rules. After a thousand or few thousand years when there are plenty of humans out there laws will automatically follow. For instance if someone wishes to do research to create animals that can survive on different planets to genetically engineer bacteria to do the same we should not get in their way. The only downside of such thinking is whether we can trust what we engineer for out there not to contaminate our planet, which is a much bigger issue / risk.