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Is Curiosity carrying Earth bacteria ?

Started by Saru , Sep 13 2012 01:40 PM

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#1    Saru

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 01:40 PM

NASA's Mars rover may have inadvertantly carried bacteria from Earth on to Mars in its drillbits.

Wired said:

Worried scientists at Nasa now estimate that there may be as many as 250,000 bacterial spores that could have survived both the journey to Mars and the landing.

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#2    Mikenator

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 05:23 PM

Wouldn't it be funny if a new life started because of there mistake  :-D

#3    Waspie_Dwarf

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 05:37 PM

View PostMikenator, on 13 September 2012 - 05:23 PM, said:

Wouldn't it be funny if a new life started because of there mistake  :-D
No it wouldn't.

It would be anything but funny. From a scientific point of view it would be a disaster. It would mean we would never be able to know if there was native life on Mars.
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#4    DBunker

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 05:48 PM

Waspie..... there are ways to separate any possible life we find on a Mars, from the ones that might have survived the trip from Earth, yes??
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#5    Waspie_Dwarf

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 06:01 PM

View PostDBunker, on 13 September 2012 - 05:48 PM, said:

Waspie..... there are ways to separate any possible life we find on a Mars, from the ones that might have survived the trip from Earth, yes??
I'm certainly no expert on genetics, but I suppose it's not impossible but there are all sorts of nightmare scenarios as far as science is concerned.

If life IS found on Mars it would answer a huge number of questions if we could determine if life arose separately on the two worlds, evolved on one and was carried to the other on a meteorite or evolved elsewhere (on comets for example) and was carried yo both.

Contaminating Mars will make that determination difficult, if not impossible.

Earth bacteria could cross with Martian bacteria or even replace it, destroying the native life on that world.

Edited by Waspie_Dwarf, 14 September 2012 - 05:06 AM.
typo

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#6    sergeantflynn

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 06:05 PM

In millions of years time people will wonder how crap from earth got on mars . Same kind of mystery we have with the pyramids etc .

#7    Hippycrite

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 06:51 PM

Martians: "There goes the neighborhood"!  Us: "Hook up the double-wide Billy Bob- we're goin' to Mars".

#8    Hazzard

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 08:36 PM

View Postsergeantflynn, on 13 September 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

In millions of years time people will wonder how crap from earth got on mars . Same kind of mystery we have with the pyramids etc .

I seriously doubt that our "crap" will last that long on Mars,... now, on our moon, thats another thing.
I still await the compelling Exhibit A.

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#9    highdesert50

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 10:44 PM

Perhaps the drill incident can be recreated and subjected to a comparable cosmic environment as Curiosity was exposed. This would perhaps provide a probabilistic baseline from which to speculate. Regardless, if we ever set foot upon Mars we are certainly going to contaminate the environment.

#10    MID

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Posted 13 September 2012 - 11:51 PM

View Posthighdesert50, on 13 September 2012 - 10:44 PM, said:

Perhaps the drill incident can be recreated and subjected to a comparable cosmic environment as Curiosity was exposed. This would perhaps provide a probabilistic baseline from which to speculate. Regardless, if we ever set foot upon Mars we are certainly going to contaminate the environment.

Yes, in much the same way as we contaminated the environment of the Moon diring 14 two man lunar EVAs conducted between July, 1969 and December, 1972.

I remember worrying about those so much!


And Mars?

When we go there, you think that a human hand or foot will touch the surface, and somehow,. contaminate the Martian environment?
How is that going to happen?

Just curious.

Edited by MID, 13 September 2012 - 11:53 PM.

#11    csspwns

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 02:25 AM

cant they send like another rover to mars tat will exterminate the bacteria on Curiosity? but tat would take like 10 years :(

#12    DONTEATUS

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 03:15 AM

ITs all relative now isnt it ! Life finds a way, Come on people ! Lets go for it ! Send humans to Mars,its the best trip we can plan for at our level right now ! We can Do it ! Dig deep into that piggy bank ! ITs only money, We can print all NASA needs ! :tu:
ANd by the way THeres already Life on Mars ! Her name is Curiosity ! And yes SHe`s alive with Life ! We Built that !
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#13    Waspie_Dwarf

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 03:43 AM

View PostDONTEATUS, on 14 September 2012 - 03:15 AM, said:

ITs all relative now isnt it !
Not really. I'm afraid you have massively missed the point here. One of the major justifications for sending missions to Mars is the search for life. If we have contaminated the planet then that justification no longer exists. If Curiosity is contaminated then a large portion of it's scientific results will be meaningless.

View PostDONTEATUS, on 14 September 2012 - 03:15 AM, said:

Life finds a way,
I fear you've been paying to much attention to Jurasic Park and too little to real science.
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#14    Opinionist

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 04:11 AM

But would that bacteria survive martian environment?

#15    Mentalcase

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Posted 14 September 2012 - 04:47 AM

View Postsergeantflynn, on 13 September 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

In millions of years time people will wonder how crap from earth got on mars . Same kind of mystery we have with the pyramids etc .
Millions? I would be surprised if we made it that long!! We are merely half of that now, if you count our related ancestors via evolution.
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