Planetary Protection
NASA: Alien Life is 'Highest Planetary Protection Priority' for Mars Missions
NASA wants to explore Mars, but a new agency directive shows that avoiding “extraterrestrial life and bioactive molecules” hitching a ride back to Earth is a top priority.
Could We Actually Nuke an Asteroid to Save Earth?
How to use a human-made Doomsday device to defeat a universe-made Doomsday device.
How NASA Prevents Alien Life from Contaminating Earth—and Vice Versa
“If we’re going to look for life on Mars, it would be really kind of lame to bring Earth life and find that instead.”
Microbes from Human Skin Have Colonized the ISS
That’s one small step for a microbe, one giant leap for microbe-kind.
How Life on Earth Could Destroy Life on Mars
Could a virus or microbe from Earth screw up another planet's biosphere before we even discover it? Or could a Martian microbe brought back for scientific study spread an Andromeda Strain type of illness on Earth and wipe out humanity?
Does an Ocean on One of Saturn's Moons Mean We'll Find Alien Space Fish There?
Recent research found evidence of a liquid-water ocean on Enceladus, which leads to big questions about our search for life elsewhere in the solar system.
