Friday, February 6th, 2009

Contaminating Planets

The Phoenix lander is sampling soil from trenches it has dug in soil near the Martian north pole. NASA / JPL-Caltech / U. Arizona / TAMU

What steps should planetary explorers take to prevent contaminating other planets with life from Earth? Writing in the journal Science, NASA researcher Chris McKay argues that any future exploration to other planets needs to be be "biologically reversible," so that microbes that have hitchhiked from Earth can be removed. We'll talk to him about why.

Guests

Christopher McKay
Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, California

Related Links

Segment produced by:Christopher Intagliata

Friday, February 6th, 2009

• Contaminating Planets
• Google Ocean?
• Future of the FDA
• Largest Snake
• Caterpillar Mimicry
• Ancient Whale Relative Gave Birth on Land
• A Year of Darwin

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