[X] My Assistant

[remcook]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1697332,00.html

FAR from discovering life on Mars, Nasa may have put it there. The American space agency believes the two rover spacecraft scuttling across the red planet are carrying bacteria from Earth, writes John Harlow.

Probably isn't the first time either. Can't believe old russian probes had any policy with that respect.

[mike]

Indeed. It seems to me it's impossible for us not to transport some living material to Mars, the Moon, and whereever else. If it weren't for the human organism being somehow superior to other competing organisms here on Earth, we wouldn't be here sending things into space in the first place. And if some bug from Mars or the Moon or whereever else takes us out, so be it.

[tedstryk]

Indeed.  It seems to me it's impossible for us not to transport some living material to Mars, the Moon, and whereever else.  If it weren't for the human organism being somehow superior to other competing organisms here on Earth, we wouldn't be here sending things into space in the first place.  And if some bug from Mars or the Moon or whereever else takes us out, so be it. 

I agree in the case of Mars. But in the case of the moon, so much material has probably gone back and forth due to impact ejecta and such in relatively short time scales compared to the trip to Mars that I really don't think that we need to be too elaborate with sterilization. At an rate, there is little possibility, even if it can survive in a dormant state, of earth-life taking on the moon. And now, post-Apollo, if the moon can be contaminated, it already is. In fact, the moon might be an interesting proving ground to test bacteria's survival in space, by revisiting the Apollo areas with sterilized rovers and looking for life!.

[Sdetton]

Forgive me if this sounds simple minded, but what is so terrible about bacterial or viral particle contamination on Mars? I never understood how life could be considered as "pollution" on a (as far as we know) lifeless world such as Mars. Isn't one of our main goals to seed and spread life throughout the solar system? As one member mentioned, if we are ever to colonize or terraform any other planet or satellite, then we will obviously introduce other forms of life such as simple microorganisms, certain plants (for food), and possibly insects.

Of course there might be a few negative aspects from this contamination (possible new pathogens, hindrance to our search for native life, etc), but in my view the benefits far outweigh the downsides.