Expert Warns Of Alien Disease Outbreak From NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission

A former planetary protection officer for NASA discussed the possibility of a disease outbreak on Earth caused by an alien pathogen from Mars. As noted by the expert, there’s a chance this kind of scenario could happen due to NASA’s upcoming sample return mission on Mars.

For the past couple of months, NASA has been discussing its plans to explore Mars using its new rover, Perseverance. One of the main objectives of this rover is to collect samples from Mars, which will then be returned to Earth to determine if they contain signs of alien life.

Of course, when returning the Martian samples to Earth, NASA will use all the necessary safety precautions to keep them contained. These precautions will protect both samples and Earth from possible contaminations.

NASA will still follow strict procedures when it comes to handling samples from Mars. However, Cassie Conley, a former planetary protection office for the agency, revealed that there had been discussions about lowering the restrictions for Mars samples within NASA.

For instance, missions to Mars are currently listed at Category IV, which means these are subjected to intense spacecraft-cleaning requirements. However, since studies have revealed that certain regions on Mars are too hostile to be infected by Earth life, missions to these areas could be downgraded to Category II.

If these restrictions are lowered, NASA will no longer be required to enact additional containment procedures for the samples or its spacecraft.

“Since the beginning of space exploration, planetary protection has mandated that samples from Mars should be considered 'Restricted Earth Return,’” Conley told Space.com. “This requires the most stringent containment to protect both the samples and the Earth.”

As noted by Conley, not much is known regarding the biological composition of samples from Mars and how they would react to Earth’s environment.

Although NASA is targeting to bring back soil and rock samples from Mars, these could contain microbial organisms that could spark a new type of alien disease outbreak on Earth.

“We really don't understand Earth biology very well and certainly don't know that much about Mars,” she added. “So, it's premature to conclude there are no Martian biohazards.”