Man’s (and Woman’s) endeavour to reach for the stars and explore space could have disastrous implications in cross-contaminating the universe. NASA and other space agencies face the daunting challenge of protecting life on Earth from potential alien life forms and at the same time defending potential aliens against contamination from Earth microbes. Scientists have identified 25 gaps in knowledge when it comes to limiting interplanetary contamination by human crews during future space missions. Space.com reports: NASA, with international and industry partners, is developing the capability to take humans deeper into space than ever before. For instance, the agency aims to have astronauts bring pieces of a captured asteroid back to Earth from lunar orbit in the 2020s, as part of an effort called the Asteroid Redirect Mission. And crews returning from Mars could bring back samples collected by the upcoming Mars 2020 rover mission. These extraterrestrial samples might shed light on the formation of the solar system and perhaps yield clues about the origins and evolution of life on Earth and beyond. However, astronauts have to make sure they collect samples in ways that do not potentially allow alien microbes to spread uncontrolled on Earth. They also have to avoid [...]
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