Backlash against NASA grows: A new pandemic could be coming
The initiative to bring samples from Mars to Earth could create a potential epidemic danger. Astrobiologist Barry DiGregorio warns that these samples could lead to an outbreak more lethal than COVID-19.
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NASA's plan to bring samples from the Martian surface is seen as an important step in the search for life in space. However, this initiative carries the risk of causing an unexpected epidemic on Earth.
Scientists state that samples brought from Mars could lead to an outbreak more dangerous than COVID-19.
Astrobiologist Barry DiGregorio emphasizes that plans to bring samples from Mars could cause a major pandemic. DiGregorio states that the probability of this scenario occurring is high and notes that humanity's space race could have dangerous consequences.
CLAIMS OF LIFE ON MARS
DiGregorio, an expert on biological life in space, says that lethal pathogens could be found in the samples brought from Mars. DiGregorio, an honorary research fellow at the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, supports the views of Gilbert Levin, who claimed that traces of microbial life were found on Mars during the 1976 Viking missions.
Levin had opposed bringing samples to Earth before better understanding life on Mars. Former NASA Planetary Protection Officer Catharine Conley was also removed from her post after stating that plans to bring samples from Mars were not safe.
MICROBE DANGER FROM MARS TO EARTH
DiGregorio states that vehicles sent from Earth to Mars were not fully sterilized and that, as a result, resilient microorganisms were transported to Mars. He now expresses that the same mistake could be made in reverse, and that microbes could be brought from Mars to Earth.
Reminding that NASA's crewed missions will be broadcast on television, DiGregorio draws attention to the risk of astronauts encountering an unknown disease. If 0.1 percent of the samples brought from Mars were contaminated, this would mean a 4 percent contamination risk.
BUDGET CUTS AND NASA'S NEW PLANS
Although NASA aims to conduct crewed Mars missions in the 2030s, the project to bring samples from Mars was canceled due to budget cuts under Donald Trump. The agency announced that it plans to collect samples using lower-cost methods but has not yet presented a clear system.
Trump's budget cuts may have perhaps saved the world from an epidemic more lethal than COVID-19. NASA, meanwhile, continues to argue that the conditions necessary for life on Mars do not exist.