Did We Bring Life To Mars?

With this bacteria being so hearty that it can survive clean rooms and the vacuum of deep space, why would you think that we are spreading it anywhere. Might this bacteria be of ancient extraterrestrial origins and already sprinkled all across the cosmos.

Might be, might be!

interesting thought . . .

The biggest problem with issues like this is the undefined "we".

It is clearly an issue if local bacteria swamp the remote detection systems leading to a false positive result after those systems begin their quest.

One philosophy is that "life will find a way". So if an incoming lander transfers biology to Mars, or anywhere else for that matter, and it finds a way of surviving there, isn't that just evolution in action? A step on the route to terraforming?

And why should the presence of life on any other body than Earth come as a surprise? A curiosity, maybe, though not surprising.

The term "alien" would require revision or even deletion from the dictionary at some point, as it would cease to have any real meaning. These expeditions are really about defining when that happens.

If "we" is defined as "all forms of life", then the original question is either irrelevant or meaningless.

I was clearing some brush down by the swamp the other day and came upon a rather large colony of bacteria. They were in the middle of a construction project to launch themselves into outer space. The problem was that another group of bacteria had set up picket lines protesting the project and the police bacteria were moving in to destroy them all.

It seems as though they have discovered an extremophile that is able to feed on the cleaning chemicals that are used in the clean rooms, which kill most other species.

While they require few nutrients, there are other factors in play...such as the temperature, atmosphere, humidity, etc., that exists in the clean room.

We know that these other factors don't exist on Mars, and a viable food source is equally unlikely. I doubt that any hitchhiking microbes will be taking over Mars anytime soon.

Did we actual plant the seeds of life? Or did we bring doom. We do not know that there is or isn't life already on Mars. Life on a bacterium level would seem the most likely. One that could survive in a harsh environment on minimum nutrients.

Could be we introduce this life's version of smallpox.

Still looking for that definition of "we".....

Heck, I don't think we ever got past the definition of "it" - as Bill Clinton stated: "define IT". Now you guys want to jump all the way up to "WE"? Gosh and golly.

As to life being started on Mars by equipment from Earth, forget it. At least as long as none of the landing equipment vents "normal temperature" gases, or liquids.

Getting back to these little critters and the Science Daily article...

There is no proposed origin for this bacteria because Science has yet to identify the origin of life on the planet Earth. (Once life started here, evolution eventually provided the diversity.) If this bacteria can be spread from the Earth to the Moon and Mars by riding on a craft we meticulously tried to sterilize and then indiscriminately subjected to the vacuum and radiation of interplanetary travel then this bacteria and presumably others could have extraterrestrial origins in the first place. In this scenario, the landing of probes and manned craft on the Moon and Mars could only be said to be spreading a diversity of bacteria, but not "life" itself. If instead the vacuum and radiation of space mandates that this bacteria and all known bacteria must have originated on Earth then transfer through unprotected space should be the ultimate sterilization process. Again no transfer of life to either Mars or the Moon.

I'm afraid you've jumped to the wrong conclusion by reading this article.

Did I? Do you not give live the slightest chance to make it over to Mars or at least the Moon? Bacteria no life form? What is this?

So you say radiation would prevent spreading of any life form the way proposed?

The vehicle is no protection in space?

^{PS What makes you think I even read the article? People like "we" draw conclusions out of nowhere. Didn't you know?}

Oh what is this (from text):

"We want to have a better understanding of these bugs, because the capabilities that adapt them for surviving in clean rooms might also let them survive on a spacecraft,"

You did not read it either! Did you?

No, I did read the article. The point of the article is actually precisely my point as well. If these critters can in dormancy survive a clean room then they might be able to survive in the harsher environment of space. Now it does make sense that while in space a bacteria will also be dormant. A facet of this story that you're not considering is we now have proof that Martian material already exists here on Earth. Certainly this is not a frequent exchange of material. I expect that the asteroid impact that we believe decimated the dinosaurs sprayed a lot of bacteria laden material out into space that could just as easily reach other planets, including Mars.

We are not amused.....

It appears that you are beating the words to death with no tools other than clubs. This is not a scientific discussion because the words have no commonality of meaning. "Life" is not a "bug." "Clean rooms" that are not clean are NOT clean rooms. Reproduction at a cellular level cannot exist in a vacuum or in hard radiation because we have defined "life" in terms which cannot exist without substance. Remove the substances which can build a reproductive organism and you have a "clean room." Since we have defined life as such, it won't exist. Period.

Gases, Dust, Bacteria with statistically acquired very high velocities will escape earth atmosphere and can travel and get implanted if they need no atmosphere in their incubation period. Even broken strand can rejoin or from capsules of dust these can re-emerge to life again on Mars or for that matter anywhere in the Universe either directly or by hopping scheme. It is God's plan for millions of years but now more rapidly with many sick people reaching Mars implanting Worms, Bacteria, Pathogens in their excreta.

Don't leave your toilet there! Bring it back to earth as souvenir.

Excretast extremist....

News!

So, all Earthlings have agreed to stay away from the water for now.

This is fine now, but it has just been a stroke of luck so far that some old, human made and lobbed hardware didn't land in a salty Martian bog and seed it with cooties.

May have already happened.

I suspect that life did not "originate" on earth anyway, and that earth is not particularly unique in that respect. We should be conscientious about how we interact with any planet, planetesimal, planetoid, moon, asteroid, or any small barren rock we visit, or else we will leave our "calling cards" behind, that might affect something somewhere sometime.

Suppose (I don't really consider this to be possible) a really large wet comet smacked (slowly) into Mars, and loaded it up with a lot more mass, perturbed the orbit sufficient to bring it down to just outside or inside earth orbit (not considering for now the astrophysics involved or how earth and the new Mars would not collide), now having a great deal more water, would not the life cycle blossom there? Should we then move there en mass and colonize and bring our agricultural species with? Why not? Who is there to make a law stating that the new living room, is in fact not living room. Never before in the history of mankind have we been so self-limiting as to assume we are not to move "forward", or have such fuzzy ideas about what "forward" is.

In my mind, "forward" is ensure the safety, survivability, and sustainability of our children's children's children's children's children's children. The succeeding generations will have the responsibility of carrying on the discussion of how many generations to look ahead from there.