Human Mars exploration vs planetary protection
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Start Date
15-12-2020 12:10 PM
End Date
15-12-2020 12:30 PM
Description
Mars is under increasing interest of scientific exploration, human exploration, and even colonization and terraforming. Mars is also considered as possible location of extinct biosignatures, or even extant life in e.g. deep underground. How these two interests: human exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life fit in general Mars exploration and planetary protection? Will human activity on Red Planet contaminate pristine alien organisms and/or will alien life contaminate Earth? Will human explorer find alien organisms more likely than robot exploration? Can Mars save humankind (and some other organisms too) when Earth becomes uninhabitable? Do we have the right to change Mars for our own purposes? And did current and previous landers already contaminate Mars with organisms from Earth?
Recommended Citation
Laine, Pauli, "Human Mars exploration vs planetary protection" (2020). Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SSoCIA) Conference. 21.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/ssocia/2020/schedule/21
Human Mars exploration vs planetary protection
Mars is under increasing interest of scientific exploration, human exploration, and even colonization and terraforming. Mars is also considered as possible location of extinct biosignatures, or even extant life in e.g. deep underground. How these two interests: human exploration and the search for extraterrestrial life fit in general Mars exploration and planetary protection? Will human activity on Red Planet contaminate pristine alien organisms and/or will alien life contaminate Earth? Will human explorer find alien organisms more likely than robot exploration? Can Mars save humankind (and some other organisms too) when Earth becomes uninhabitable? Do we have the right to change Mars for our own purposes? And did current and previous landers already contaminate Mars with organisms from Earth?