FAR from discovering life on Mars, Nasa may have put it there. The American space agency believes the two rover spacecraft scuttling across the red planet are carrying bacteria from Earth, writes John Harlow.
The bacteria, bacillus safensis, were found in a chamber in California that had been used to test the rovers. Officials believe it is likely some of the microbes, possibly from scientists’ skin, were on board when the mission left.

The craft, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on Mars last year. One key task was to look for signs of life — now it seems that if there are any organisms, it is man who has put them there. If proved, the contamination would raise concerns at possible breaches of a United Nations treaty to stop other planets being polluted from Earth.

The claims have been made by Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a microbiologist at Nasa’s spacecraft assembly plant in Pasadena. His tests have shown the microbes could survive space travel, the landing on Mars and the planet’s bitter -60C climate. It is believed the bacteria are living inside the electronic circuitry of the two landers.

The error is revealed in Out of Eden by Alan Burdick, a book to be published in Britain this year.

A Nasa spokesman said there were “massive odds” against the microbes becoming established on the planet.
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That would be bad...

and they didnt check this before they sent the damn things to Mars? :/

Millions and millions of dollars.....And now this??????
Stupid.

Personaly were going to polute the planet in less then 50 years (Mars when we get there) and people are consered about a few microbes.

~Thanato

I don't think it's altogether likely....surely they would have not only ensured that the crafts were completely sterile before launch, but also any surviving microbes would not have survived the passage through the atmosphere.

Microbes, like any life form, can only survive in certain conditions that allow key cellular functions to take place. Extremes of temperature will do to their proteins the exact same thing they do to everyone else's (although it should be said that microbes, given their incredible rate of reproduction, are the most adaptable life forms on the planet, and have been known to live almost anywhere).

It's extremely unlikely that NASA set out to contaminate the martian biosphere (?) with earthly hitch-hikers.

This has happened before.

Remember Surveyor 3?



It was third in a series of unmanned lunar landers whose mission was to test the lunar surface and make preliminary analysis for the Apollo landings.

It reached the Moon's Ocean of Storms in April 1967, carried out its mission, and remained silent for 2 1/2 years. . .until November 1969.

Enter Apollo 12.

The two astronauts landed their lunar module a little over 600 feet away, and on their second moonwalk visited the Surveyor. They removed the scoop, some other parts and the television camera, returning them to Earth.

The television camera was disassembled and studied.

The scientists were startled to discover living organisms inside the camera housing.

Common cold germs.

Someone must have coughed on the insulation for the camera.

They survived over 2 1/2 years on the moon. Being inside the housing, they were protected from the ultraviolet radiation.

Life is amazingly hardy. It just needs a toehold.

Maybe humans should plant something on the polar caps on mars..
Something that could evolve eventually...maybe melt the ices...
And plant something that could thicken the atmosphere.
Interesting idea.... (not new though)

You're tallking about terraforming, reengineering an existing environment (or creating one) to be a suitable habitat for terrestrail organisms (when we colonize other worlds, it won't be just humans--when humanity spread out across the globe, the animal kingdom went along).

One idea for Mars was to sprinkle dark carbon dioxide on the polar caps, to heat them up and melt them, releasing the water into the atmosphere.

Another for Venus was to release something simlar in the atmosphere, though that it a project that could take centuires. By then we will likely have reached the nearest strs with Earth-type planets (and after NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder has been launched, we should know where to find a few of them).

Well of course this was going to happen, we are humans after all!!!!!

Love the concept...

And the LORD said"Let there be LIFE"

Then they thew the Toilets contents out the Air Lock! Me thinks thou protest to much!

Life can survive reentry in a meterorite i think it can survive in a capsole designed for renetry.

~Thanato