Could microbes from Earth contaminating Mars?

Is there life on Mars? Questions that often arise in human minds. The question that continues to find the answer. Various missions have been launched to Mars. Any data that can start being processed. But there is a question also arose as the delivery of the mission into space.

Could there be from Earth-borne bacteria and contaminate the red planet? One study tried to discuss the issue. It is estimated that, if there is a bacteria that is carried on the spacecraft that was launched, so there remains the possibility for bacteria to survive the harsh Martian environment in a long time to later contaminate Mars with terrestrial life.

So if we find there is life on the red planet if it was real life from Mars? Or is brought from Earth life?

In their research, scientists from the University of Central Florida build a replica of the conditions on Mars with by creating drought conditions, hypobaria, low temperature and UV radiation.

During the weeks that study, the researchers found the bacterium Escherichia coli as a potential to contaminate the spacecraft. E-coli is also expected to survive but not grow on the surface of Mars if he is protected from ultraviolet rays by a thin layer of dust or are in the niches that are protected from ultraviolet rays in the spacecraft.

Likelihood-borne bacteria spacecraft has become the focus in every mission. To protect the spacecraft from contamination sterilization is carried out in order to avoid contamination from the Earth to the surface of Mars.

Notwithstanding the existence of sterilization has been performed, the current study shows that there is a variety of microbial communities that have the possibility was still there when executed the launch.

It is estimated that, under sterile conditions made on spacecraft development facilities to ensure only the elastic-like acinetobacter species, bacillus, Escherichia, staphylococcus and streptococcal survivors.

Well, if the microbes with a long lifetime makes it possible to survive on Mars, Mars exploration missions course of the past and the future has become a medium that delivers terrestrial life to the red planet. For that continued research on the potential life of various types of microbes need to be studied again.

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