What is the danger of aquatic bacteria contaminating the earth and endangering life on it? The scientists want to prevent the war of the worlds
Scientists face a dilemma when planning a manned flight to Mars. The scientific passion for the study of life there, against the need to prevent these creatures from being a danger to the humans who come to study them.
The National Science Council (NRC) recommends taking a safety factor to prevent the spacecraft that gets there from getting contaminated. The danger to the Earth's biological system from aquatic bacteria is low, but the danger of severe damage is not zero and should not be ignored, states the council in a report it published last week.
NCR urges NASA to create areas where there will be minimal risk of biological or mineralogical contamination" by launching spacecraft to automatically test substances suspected of being organic or other forms of life.
The astronauts will be sent to areas where there will be minimal risk of encountering life that may pose a threat to them or to the entire Earth upon their return.
In another step designed to prevent possible contamination from coming to Earth, a study states that the spacecraft returning from Mars may be abandoned in space and the astronauts will be transferred to another spacecraft that will return them to Earth.
While NASA is not currently planning a manned journey to Mars, it has asked the council to carry out studies and measurements to know in advance what the needs will be. Unmanned spacecraft have explored Mars by flying around it and landing on its surface.
Mars has long interested astronomers. Water flowed on the surface of the planet, so it became the prime candidate for the search for living things, including bacteria, which many scientists believe still exist in the Martian soil.
Members of an expedition that lands on Mars may become covered in dust, and astronauts who walk on the planet's soil to perform scientific work may bring this dust with them, as happened with flights to the moon.
To prevent the astronauts from returning to Earth with this volatile material, the report suggests transferring the astronauts from their spacecraft to another spacecraft, where they will stay in a sterile environment. If it is not possible to transfer them to a sterile spaceship, it will be necessary to isolate them on Earth, as was done to the astronauts of Apollo 11 after their return from the Moon, before it was determined that there is no life on the Moon and therefore there is no fear of contaminating the Earth.
NASA is also now developing research to examine the toxic elements on Mars in order to design and build filters to protect the astronauts from them. The main concern is the substance hexavalent chromium, a rare substance on Earth, which, according to research, may be found in greater quantities on Mars.
The presence of a large amount of sulfur compounds and chlorine compounds on Mars indicates the possibility of high acidity in the soil and atmospheric dust. The quantities of these materials must be measured and prepared for.
The National Research Council is part of the National Academy of Sciences, an independent agency established by Congress to provide advice to the administration on scientific matters.
