UT: Are We Contaminating Mars?

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neufer
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UT: Are We Contaminating Mars?

Post by neufer » Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:21 pm

Art Neuendorffer

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ASM: Earth Microbes May Contaminate the Search for Life

Post by bystander » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:16 pm

Earth Microbes May Contaminate the Search for Life on Mars
American Society for Microbiology - 27 April 2010
Bacteria common to spacecraft may be able to survive the harsh environs of Mars long enough to inadvertently contaminate Mars with terrestrial life according to research published in the April 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

The search for life on Mars remains a stated goal of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology Institutes. To preserve the pristine environments, the bioloads on spacecraft headed to Mars are subject to sterilization designed to prevent the contamination of the Martian surface.

Despite sterilization efforts made to reduce the bioload on spacecraft, recent studies have shown that diverse microbial communities remain at the time of launch. The sterile nature of spacecraft assembly facilities ensures that only the most resilient species survive, including acinetobacter, bacillus, escherichia, staphylococcus and streptococcus.
The photo below (from HiRISE) probably has nothing at all to do with the potential microbial contamination of Mars.
Image
Mound of South Polar Layered Deposits (PSP_002345_1095)
The south polar layered deposits are a stack of layered ice up to 3000 meters (9800 feet) thick which is similar to terrestrial ice sheets. In places, this stack extends up to 1100 kilometers (680 miles) from the pole and many of the impact craters surrounding this ice-sheet appear to be filled with mounds of similar icy material and also sand dunes.

This image shows the material within one of these near-polar craters. The crater is about 44 kilometers (27 miles) across and contains a mound of material about 23 kilometers (14 miles) across and 300 meters (1000 feet) thick on its northern (south facing) wall. The dark material at the top (north) of the image shows the northern wall of the crater, the bright material that begins near the image top and extends toward the bottom is the surface of the mound.

This surface is covered with sand dunes that appear bright as they are still covered by seasonal carbon dioxide frost. Smaller dunes and ripples can be seen on the surfaces of the larger linear dunes. In the low lying areas between dunes, one can see a network of cracks that are reminiscent of the surface of the polar layered deposits, indicating that this mound is probably mostly ice with a thinner and incomplete covering of dunes.

The dark spots in the frost cover are characteristic of how this terrain defrosts, and are commonly observed in these locations during this season.
HiRISE: New and Spotlighted Captioned Images (2010 Apr 21)
http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... 29&t=19162

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neufer
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Re: ASM: Earth Microbes May Contaminate the Search for Life

Post by neufer » Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:17 pm

bystander wrote:The photo (HiRISE) probably has nothing at all to do with the potential microbial contamination of Mars.
So the Universe Today was simply trying to gross us out then?
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: ASM: Earth Microbes May Contaminate the Search for Life

Post by bystander » Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:03 am

neufer wrote:So the Universe Today was simply trying to gross us out then?
May be kind of blunt, but, yeah, that is what I think.
The dark spots in the frost cover are characteristic of how this terrain defrosts, and are commonly observed in these locations during this season.

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