Have Humans Brought Life to Mars?
May 14, 2021
Humans have sent numerous spacecraft to Mars, including the US rover Perseverance that is now exploring the planet’s surface. Could microbes have hitched along and found a new home there? In a BBC report, Christopher Mason, a Cornell University geneticist, answers yes, then surveys potential implications for earthlings and any other life in the universe. In an Issues online exclusive, Bhavya Lal and Jeff Trauberman examine what NASA and other spacefarers are doing to avoid microbial contamination. They see strengths, but also needs for improvement, especially as ambitious interplanetary space missions are moving toward reality.