Curiosity and the Issue of Planetary Protection

There have been many reports about the possibility of NASA’s Curiosity rover contaminating Mars with microbes from Earth once it lands on the Red Planet in August. The wheels, the landing procedure and the drill bits have all come under scrutiny. But what are the concerns and what safeguards are there to prevent contamination from [...]

Curiosity at Centre of Attention During Testing Image Credit: NASA /JPL – CaltechThere have been many reports about the possibility of NASA’s Curiosity rover contaminating Mars with microbes from Earth once it lands on the Red Planet in August. The wheels, the landing procedure and the drill bits have all come under scrutiny. But what are the concerns and what safeguards are there to prevent contamination from this or other missions? (...)Read the rest of Curiosity and the Issue of Planetary Protection (566 words)© Jenny Winder for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Curiosity Rover, Planetary protection Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh