Cornell University geneticist Christopher Mason wrote in an May 10 piece for the BBC that life discovered on the red planet might have actually originated on earth in NASA labs, despite thorough on-site cleaning procedures and spacecraft assembly in specialized rooms.
Spacecraft, like the Perseverance Rover, are built in meticulously sterilized rooms piece by piece with each component cleaned before being added. This should theoretically ensure that no bacteria or organism survives the assembly process, according to Mason. Filtration systems in the spartan rooms offer an extra layer of protection so “only a few hundred particles can contaminate each square foot.”
“But, it is almost impossible to get to zero biomass. Microbes have been on Earth for billions of years, and they are everywhere,” Mason wrote. “They are inside us, on our bodies, and all around us. Some can sneak through even the cleanest of clean rooms.”
Mason says his own theoretical research has shown evidence of microbes that have the potential to be problematic during space missions, as the microbes contain increased genes that make them better able to resist radiation and cold environments.
“It turns out that clean rooms might serve as an evolutionary selection process for the hardiest bugs that then may have a greater chance of surviving a journey to Mars,” Mason wrote. TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...
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