In a message dated 12/8/99 17:01:14, blenl@sk.sympatico.ca wrote:
> If we land
>actual humans on Mars at any point in the foreseeable future, don't we
>automatically run the risk of *contaminating* the planet, in effect
>seeding it with some of our own toughest microbes?
This was already considered in designing spacecraft to go to Mars. The astronomers calculated rare asteriodal impacts on Earth had already resulted in several tons of viable material being dropped on Mars.
So, not to worry. Mars is already contaminated. Europa too, I'll bet. Maybe Titan is relatively clean, but nothing closer.