A NASA space mission to Mars is underway, with the Perseverance rover probing the rocks in the Jezero crater with special tools to detect signs of ancient life and bring back samples to Earth.
However, some scientists disagree with this space mission and stress that the samples should be tested in space, because they may contain alien microbes and viruses, which, if released on Earth, could cause many problems and even threaten the existence of life, based on the most extreme scenarios.
The first photo of the Jezero crater from the Perseverance rover
According to thesun.co.uk, the space rover uses a drill and a 2-meter-long hollow drill to extract samples, which are slightly thicker than a pencil. It then stores them at its base and packs them into titanium tubes to be sent back to Earth in a separate spacecraft by 2033.
NASA expects around 30 samples to arrive back, with this mission promising to revolutionise our understanding of the Martian soil so that future human space missions can be planned with the ultimate goal of colonising the red planet.
The two bad scenarios for space samples
The scientific community may be eagerly awaiting samples from Mars, but some scientists are concerned that, yes, rocks should be taken, but they should be examined in space and not on Earth. In fact, there are two bad scenarios, according to experts.
First, the worst-case scenario states that if the spacecraft lands on Earth, which will carry the samples, then alien microbes will be released, which will be dangerous for the existence of life on our planet. Of course, there will not be the spread of a mass virus, as in the movies, but experts believe that the microbes released will kill other organisms, starting a vicious cycle that in the long run will indeed be a threat to humans.
Perseverance lands on Mars
Then, there is the second scenario, which is the least bad and states that when the alien microbes are released on Earth, they will be altered to such an extent that the sample cannot be accurately tested. This means that there will be no conclusion, as the sample will have been destroyed.
However, according to NASA, both of the above scenarios have extremely low chances of coming true, making it worth the risk of the mission. Typically, Thomas Zurbuchen, astrophysicist and chief scientist at NASA, said that "we believe this is the next logical step in our effort to eventually land humans on the surface of Mars" and added that the samples collected by Perseverance "are believed to be the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for life."
Source: newsbeast
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